CHP cuts Roche heating bill by £540 000 a year
15 Jan 2000
The UK Government is keen to persuade industry to install combined heat and power systems which, it claims, offer two key benefits: higher energy efficiency and reduced noxious emissions.
To improve industry's awareness of CHP's potential the Department of the Environment has organised a number of visits to CHPsites, as part of the Energy Efficient Best Practice programme. Last month a group visited the Roche Products (formerly Cyan-amid) plant in Gosport, Hampshire, which produces pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals.
This installation, which had capital investment costs of £3.1m, was the first such commercial installation in the UK and it has been generating steam and electricity for about eight years.
Roche's Don Booth told the visiting party: `We employ a dual fuel system based on coal or gas. It's important to understand your site's demand and how it can change. Our heat and power demand has changed from a 1:1 ratio in 1986 to 2.5:1, nowadays.'
`We have achieved average annual savings in energy costs of £544 600 and we broke even after 4.7 years, against a forecast of 5.5 years, on the capital investment. Overall, this has been very successful - a dream to work with.'
Having passed the payback point some three years ago, Roche estimates that the CHP system has boosted the company's profits by about £1.5million.
Roche's dual fuel reciprocating engine drives an alternator that generates 3.5MWe at 11kV. Exhaust gases are ducted to a boost-fired boiler which produces up to 13.6t/h of steam Some of the lower grade waste heat pre-heats the water before raising steam.
Terry Clarke, manager of the energy and environmental management unit of the Government Office for the South East told the meeting: `The Energy Technology Support Unit (ETSU) was subcontracted to look at energy efficiency issues of installations. Our aims are to achieve sustainable development and improve the competitiveness of British industry.
`The CHP culture is very much like health and safety. Companies should consider seriously the environmental and energy implications of such a development,' he said.
Financial assistance is available for companies wishing to install a CHP system of under 1MW. Another means of financing the development of CHP is to subcontract the installation and operation to a third party company.
* Last year, the Government published its first CHP strategy, including its wish for British industry to be generating 5000MWe by CHP by the year 2000.
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