A basic guide on the principles and profitability of small-scale cogeneration

Cut your energy billswith cogeneration

COGENchallenge

Basic guide: smal l -scale cogenerat ion

2

Note from the editors………………….......….3

A wide range of possibilities……………....…4

The technical principles………………………6

Fundamental economic considerations...…..8

Basic phases of a cogeneration project…...11

A brief project checklist….......................….12

Make your first assessment with

..........................................14

About .............................16

easy .xls

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Table of contents

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Note f rom the edi tors

3

Cogeneration is the most efficient way of

energy conversion. Its wider use has various

positive impacts on the economy, the

environment, the responsible use of

resources and on security of energy supply.

Cogeneration, also known as CHP

(combined heat and power), produces 10%

of all electricity and around the same share

of heat in the 25 EU countries. There is a

strong political will to increase the share of

cogeneration in the coming years, because

this well-proven technology offers a range of

benefits for society.

Energy consumers can cut drastically their

bills by installing cogeneration plants. They

can reduce the quantity of electricity bought

from the local supplier and sell excess

electricity at an attractive price. Finally, more

cogeneration means more independent

energy producers and helps to liberalise

European energy markets.

Cogeneration shows higher energy efficiency

than conventional plants (separate

production of heat and electricity). This leads

to primary energy savings and lower

emissions of carbon dioxide, the main

greenhouse gas. The development of

cogeneration will contribute to meet the

targets of the Kyoto Protocol and to combat

climate change. The cleanest energy is

always the energy that is saved.

Everybody is aware of the fact that fossil fuel

resources will deplete sometime. In order to

find energy solutions of the future,

Governments put much effort in stimulating

renewable fuels like biomass and biogas. In

addition, improving the efficiency of fuel use

will reduce the rate of fuel depletion.

Cogeneration is the most efficient method to

convert fuels into useful electricity and heat.

Therefore, it should be always be the first

choice for energy provision.

Cogeneration contributes in many ways to

more reliability. By generating the electricity

themselves, the users of cogeneration are

more independent than consumers who

entirely depend on commercial electricity

suppliers. When electricity is produced very

near to the end-consumer, the entire

electricity network for the whole region is

more stable and needs less upgrading. Also,

bigger energy savings make all of us less

dependent on imported fuel resources.

Cogeneration is not only a possibility for big

industry and district heating. Small

enterprises, public authorities, even the

owners of family houses can use this

principle and realise these benefits. This

brochure is aimed at inspiring the reader to

reflect on the question whether the

installation of a small-scale cogeneration unit

would help to cut the energy bills and to

contribute to a greener future.

The team COGENchallenge

Ensuring reliability of energy supply

Using resources in a more efficient manner

Stimulating the economy

Saving the environment

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A wide range of possib i l i t ies

4

Whether you are a local authority, a small

business, a service company, a home owner,

or in charge of the maintenance of hospitals

or social housing you will always need

heating and electricity. To cover these needs

you generally use a boiler for your heat

needs and you buy electricity from the

network. Another option is to cover partially

these heating and electricity needs through a

small-scale cogeneration unit.

houses and apartment buildings,

hospitals,

police stations and prisons,

schools and universities,

community heating schemes,

office buildings such as Government

buildings or banks.

hotels,

swimming pools and leisure centres,

stores and supermarkets,

airports,

shopping centres,

restaurants,

laundries,

car washes.

Small-scale cogeneration is an attractive

and practical proposition for a wide range

of applications:

the building sector:

services:

Cogenerated heat is used for domestic hot

water, space heating, laundry facilities,

dryers or swimming pool water heating.

Steam production is also possible in some

cases. Finally, it is also possible to use the

heat in a heat-driven chiller to produce

cooling to replace electric-driven air-

conditioning.

Horticulture and greenhouses,

drying crops or wood,

animal shelters,

use of agro-wastes such as biogas.

food processing,

textile production,

brewing, distilling and malting,

timber processing,

motor industry,

and also industrial zones or parks.

sewage treatment works,

landfill sites.

the agricultural sector:

the industrial sector:

energy from waste using the biogas

production of:

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A school in Frankfurt (Germany)

A hotel in London (United Kingdom)

In Frankfurt, a large number of schools cover

a part of their heating need with small-scale

cogeneration units. Two 50 kWe small-scale

cogeneration units (gas engines) were

installed in the Carl Schurz school in 1993.

They produce 80 % of the annual heat

demand of the school, the gym and the

swimming pool and save around 50 tonnes

of carbon dioxide per year.

The Heathrow Marriott is a large luxury hotel

with 390 guestrooms, a heated indoor

swimming pool and a gym. Installed in 2001,

the 400 kWe cogeneration unit runs on

average 17 hours per day with an average

availability of 97.5%. The hotel management

calculated annual cost savings to have

reached €75,700 for the first year of

operation, while avoiding over 250 tonnes of

carbon dioxide emissions over the same

period.

A wide range of possib i l i t ies

A spa & fun resort in Ljubljana (Slovenia)

A landfill site in Thieulloy (France)

The Laguna Ljubljana resort is a camping

and hotel centre with an open swimming pool

complex and sport centre. The installed

small-scale cogeneration unit with a capacity

of 230 kWe (gas engine) supplies most of

the electricity and a high share of the total

heat demand of the resort during the whole

year. Compared to separate heat and power

production, the installation saves around 110

tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

In 2004, eight microturbines of 30 kWe each

were installed on a landfill site nearby Paris.

This cogeneration plant uses most of the

biogas produced by the site rather than simply

flaring the gas. The electricity generated is sold

to the French utility EDF at a price of €120,000

per year. A greenhouse under construction

next to the site will be supplied with heat. It is

estimated that each year around 130 tonnes of

carbon dioxide will be saved thanks to the use

of biogas for producing electricity and heat.

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Most people think of large clouds pouring out

of a massive cooling tower when asked for a

picture that illustrates the production of

electricity. All of us have seen many different

power stations where water is used to cool

the process and then condensates into the

air. Only a few, however, pose the question

why we are actually wasting all this energy

that has heated up the water and disappears

through the chimney and cooling towers?

The technical pr incip les

6

Mun

icip

al W

aste

Power

Heat

Natural Gas

Vegetable Oil

Bioethanol

Biomass

Biogas

Engine/Generator Gas Turbine/Generator

Fuel Cell Steam Turbine/Generator

Cogeneration PlantFuel

The Cogeneration Principle

Heating Oil

Coal

© Bundesverband Kraft-Wärme-Kopplung

Separate Heat and Power Production

Cogeneration Plant

Power

Heat

11 units loss

34 units

Engine Generator

Power

Heat

34 units70units

55 units61 units

6 units loss

33 units loss3 units loss

55 units

Total loss: 42 units

131 unitsfuel

100 unitsfuel

Cogeneration drastically reduces this waste

of energy. By converting the energy close to

the consumer of heat and power, it is

possible to use most of it. The graph belowe

illustrates this principle: in the upper half, it is

shown how much electricity and heat a

typical small-scale cogeneration produces

with a given number of energy input. In this

example, the cogeneration unit has an

efficiency of 89%. In the case of separate

production of heat

(in the boiler) and

electricity (in the

power station) the

efficiency is much

lower. Far more fuel

is needed, because

of the high losses in

the power station,

and additional

losses in the

electricity network

and in the boiler.

Cogeneration is a

principle and not a

single technology. In

general,

cogeneration can be

applied in all cases

where electricity is produced by thermal

combustion, may it be based on fossil or

renewable fuels. By exactly analysing the

consumption patterns of individual users,

cogeneration schemes can be optimised to

supply their specific needs.

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Most small-scale cogeneration units are

internal combustion engines operating on the

same familiar principles as their petrol and

diesel automotive counterparts. Engines run

with liquid or gaseous fuels, such as heating

oil, natural gas or biogas, and are available

from 1 kWe to more than 1,000 kWe. Internal

combustion engines have a higher electrical

efficiency than turbines, but the thermal

energy they produce is generally at lower

temperatures and so they are highly suited to

buildings applications. The usable

heat:power ratio is normally in the range 1:1

to 2:1.

For very small-scale applications with a

capacity between 0.2 kWe and 9 kWe,

Stirling engines can be used. These engines

are external combustion devices and

therefore differ substantially from the

conventional models. The Stirling engine has

fewer moving parts than conventional

engines, and no valves, tappets, fuel

injectors or spark ignition systems. It is

therefore quieter than normal engines.

Stirling engines also require little

maintenance and the emission of pollutants

is low.

Gas turbines have become the most widely

used prime mover for large-scale

cogeneration in recent years. The waste

gases exhausted from the turbine have a

temperature of 450°C to 550°C, making the

gas turbine particularly suitable steam

supply. Gas turbines are not only used in

large-scale applications. Smaller units,

starting at around 400 kWe are available on

the market.

Since the late 1990s microturbines have

become available. They are derived from

automotive turbo-chargers and are available

from 30 kWe to around 250 kWe.

Microturbines use less space than

conventional engines and maintenance costs

are lower. Moreover, the emission of

pollutant gases is reduced, especially those

gases that cause acid rain and ozone layer

depletion. Electrical efficiencies are typically

lower than in internal combustion engines.

Steam turbines have been used as prime

movers for large-scale cogeneration systems

for many years. Typically, steam turbines are

associated with larger power stations but

also smaller units starting with 200 kWe are

frequently used. The overall efficiency

generally is very high, achieving up to 84%.

Steam turbines run with solid, liquid or

gaseous fuels, both fossil and renewable.

The typical heat:power ratio of steam

turbines is around 6:1.

A new development is the use of fuel cells

for cogeneration. It needs to be said,

however, that fuel cells are not yet

commercially available. Fuel cells convert

the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen

directly into electricity without combustion

and mechanical work such as in turbines or

engines. The hydrogen is usually produced

from natural gas by a process known as

reforming. The total efficiencies of

cogeneration systems reach 85 to 90%,

while the heat to power ratio is in the range

5:4. Fuel cells with a capacity of 1 kWe

provide heat and power to single family

houses, whereas bigger applications of

around 300 kWe can be used in hospitals for

example.

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The technical pr incip les

Engines

Gas Turbines

Steam Turbines

Fuel Cells

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In order to fully meet the needs of the

cogeneration operator, the optimal size of the

cogeneration unit needs to be determined.

The heat load of the site is the most

important factor when defining the right

capacity. Other factors include the type of

cogeneration unit, the consumption pattern,

and the presence (or absence) of specific

public support mechanisms for cogeneration.

Example A

Example A shows a cogeneration unit that is

sized in a way that allows for many operating

hours. The total amount of 6,800 operating

hours means that the unit is running for more

than nine months during the year. Only when

the heat demand is lowest (usually in the

summer period) is the machine switched off.

The rationale behind this approach is that an

investment in cogeneration amortises the

faster, the more the unit is in operation.

However, in this case only a relatively small

proportion of the heat demand is met by the

cogeneration unit. The rest will be supplied

by boilers.

Example B

Example B shows another possibility to

determine the right size for a cogeneration

unit. Here, the plant runs only for a certain

period of time. Consequently, the capacity

can be bigger, even if the heat load is

identical with the object of the previous

example. This option is chosen in cases,

when night time operation is uneconomic

Fundamental economic considerat ion

8

730h

HeatDemandkWh (th)

730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h

730h

HeatDemandkWh (th)

730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h 730h

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Investment into energy efficiency does not

come for free. The owner of a cogeneration

plant needs to calculate with two types of

cost: the initial costs for installing the

cogeneration plant (purchase of the

cogeneration unit, connection to the power

grid, the fuel system and the heating system,

construction and engineering) and for the

long-term costs for the fuel and for the

maintenance of the system.

Looking at the initial costs, the investment

into cogeneration is more capital-intensive

than the investment into a boiler, which only

produces heat and no electricity. The graph

above shows that the cogeneration unit

constitutes the biggest share of overall

investment. Generally, smaller cogeneration

units have a higher price per kWe, so that

the total initial costs vary from €700 to

€3,000 per kWe.

Next to the fuel costs, long-term costs occur

due to maintenance and service needs. Most

suppliers of cogeneration units offer a full-

service contract: essentially a life-time

guarantee for the cogeneration unit. Full-

service contracts have a duration of ten

years or more and should cover the costs for

lubrication, filters, spark-plugs (for engines),

etc. Cogeneration users should not shy away

from paying these additional costs, if they do

not have the knowledge for operating,

maintaining and overhauling these machines.

Composition of typical initial costs per

unit capacity

Maintenance costs per unit capacity

9

Fundamental economic considerat ion

Costs

0

100.000

200.000

300.000

400.000

500.000

600.000

700.000

800.000

5 15 30 50 65 100 150 250 300 350 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

kWe of chp-plant

To

talin

vestm

en

tin

Eu

ro

Engineering

Connection to grid

Exhaust

Connection to heating system

Construction

CHP-Unit

Price-function: Full-Service = 5.73 x pel-0,26 [Ct/kWhe]

0,00

0,50

1,00

1,50

2,00

2,50

3,00

3,50

4,00

0 200 400 600 800 1.000

electrical power of chp unit in kWe

Co

st

for

Fu

ll-S

erv

ice-C

on

tract

in[c

t/kW

hel]

Initial costs of cogeneration investment

Source: ASUE 2005

Full-service contract costs

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Investing into cogeneration is profitable when

the income from the investment is higher

than the initial and long-term costs. The

cogeneration owners earn money by

producing electricity that they can either

consume themselves or sell to the local

electricity supplier. In many countries, they

receive additional financial support from the

governments, as cogeneration offers many

benefits for the society, such as saving

primary energy, avoiding network losses and

reducing greenhouse gases.

The cogeneration operators no longer only

buy from the local electricity supplier, they

produce their power themselves. However, in

order to cover peak demand and in times,

when the cogeneration units are switched off,

they will rely on the electricity from the grid.

As they can produce a considerable part of

the electricity and heat needs of the site,

substantial energy and cost savings are

achieved.

The European Directive on Cogeneration

has been transposed into national law in

2006 and obliges all European Governments

to promote cogeneration in general and

small-scale cogeneration of up to 1,000 kWe

in particular. In order to increase their share

of cogeneration, many European

Governments offer financial support for

cogeneration users. These support

mechanisms can be very different and are

designed according to the needs of the

specific countries. Typical mechanisms are

investment subsidies, favourable feed-in

tariffs for excess electricity, white or green

certificates, reduction of energy taxes or VAT,

or specific loan programmes. In order to

calculate the profitability of your cogeneration

project, you will need to know about any

support mechanism put in place by your

Government. A regional "cogeneration

facilitator" can help you, as well as national

cogeneration associations or governmental

bodies. In order to get some first indication,

please consult the

website and download the country fact sheet

for your home country.

www.cogen-challenge.org

Share of cogeneration in the

EU-25 countries in the year 2002 (in %)

Source: Eurostat 2006

Fundamental economic considerat ion

Benefits

Austria

Belgium

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

13.6

7.5

0.0

17.1

49.1

11.0

38.0

4.0

9.8

7.8

21.5

2.5

7.4

37.5

9.7

7.9

0.0

29.9

16.0

10.0

17.5

5.9

7.8

6.8

5.4

10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 %

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Basic phases of a cogenerat ion project

Sizing of the cogeneration unit

Do your first assessment for free

If a cogeneration project is well designed,

primary energy savings of 10 to 25% can be

achieved. Projects with such a high amount

of energy savings are also known as "high

efficiency cogeneration". In order to reach

these results, it must be ensured that as little

energy as possible is wasted. This can be

only done by using the entire amount of heat

and electricity produced by the cogeneration

unit in an effective and efficient way.

The first big challenge for the realisation of a

high efficiency cogeneration project therefore

is to find the right capacity of the

cogeneration unit. If the unit is too small, the

opportunity to save more energy is missed. If

the unit is too big, energy will be wasted.

Project developers determine the size of a

unit always according to various criteria such

as the heat load, the electricity needs and

the regulatory framework. Another important

aspect is the question, whether it is possible

to sell excess electricity.

The purchase and the installation of a

cogeneration unit is a considerable

investment which needs to pay back. The

more hours of a year the cogeneration unit is

in operation, the more money is saved during

this year. Therefore, project developers

choose a size for the cogeneration unit which

does not cover the highest possible heat

load but only the base load which is stable

during the year.

Depending on your site's energy needs and

the operational requirements, a range of

energy experts can assist you in carrying out

a proper sizing of your cogeneration project.

These may be the supplier of the

cogeneration unit, an energy consultant or a

so-called energy services company (ESCO).

With a "feasibility study" the experts can

measure your consumption of heating fuel

and of electricity and simulate (with a

complex software tool)

different sizes of cogeneration units. They

can calculate for each size the profitability

and then propose the best option giving also

an assessment of the economical benefits,

the energy and environmental balance, and

the technical integration into the building.

The team recommends to

you to begin by doing the first assessment

yourself. For this reason, we have created a

simplified version of the same software tool

that energy professionals use in their work.

The Excel-based software

allows also non-experts to carry out a first

rough assessment whether the installation of

a cogeneration plant is a good option or not.

On the pages 14 and 15 of this brochure

there is a manual on how to use

.

As with all other investments in life the rate

of return of your investment in cogeneration

depends on the level of risk that you are

willing to take. You have different options

such as managing the entire investment by

yourself, signing a "partnership contract" with

an energy supplier, or agreeing to a so-called

Third Party Financing (TPF) contract. In this

case, a third partner will carry out the

investment and the maintenance of the unit.

You should thoroughly assess, which option

fits best to your financing plan. If you want to

know more about financing cogeneration

projects, please consult the respective

brochure, which will be

available on the website from June 2006

onwards.

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Choose your individual financing option

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A br ief project checkl is t

It is also helpful to know the interconnection

costs. These costs can vary from 5 to 20% of

the total installation costs. More often, the

distribution network operator will facilitate the

interconnection of your cogeneration unit.

For instance, the electricity produced by a

cogeneration unit might receive preferential

treatment when fed into the grid. The

distribution network operator is normally the

right address to find out about the conditions

in your country and region. In some countries

you will be asked to add a "decoupling

connection" system to your cogeneration

plant. The performance of this decoupling

system needs to be tested before you start to

run your cogeneration plant.

If the technical and economical analysis is

positive for a cogeneration plant, some legal

and other aspects have to be kept in mind.

Depending on the size of the plant, an

operator needs permissions from different

parties. The following checklist will give some

hints, but cannot cover all national

regulations in the European countries. Again,

it is helpful to ask local facilitators or

engineers or even the suppliers which have

experience with cogeneration installations.

The distribution network operator should be

involved in the project at an early stage. In

the case of bigger units the impact on the

grid needs to be checked and the point of

interconnection needs to be defined.

12

Grid connection

G G feasibility study

G grid connection

G distribution network operator

G fuel contract

G building authorities

G administrative procedures

G emissions regulations

G maintenance

G public support mechanisms

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In each country there are certain regulations

on air quality that need to be fulfilled.

Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO ) typically x

cause the greatest concern and legislative

attention. Nitrogen oxides are toxic, form

acid rain and contribute to the depletion of

the ozone layer. Emissions can be reduced

by regularly maintaining the cogeneration

plant. Additional emissions regulations may

concern sulfur dioxide (SO ), carbon 2

monoxide (CO) and dust.

In order to calculate the economical benefits

of a cogeneration plant it is necessary to

know the maintenance cost for a "full-

service-contract". You will find more

information on maintenance costs on page 9

of this brochure.

This is an important item for the potential

investor and needs to be thoroughly

checked. All over Europe there are different

public support mechanisms for cogeneration

in place. It is sometimes necessary to

contact a variety of different public authorities

in order to receive all financial support (for

the actual investment but also for the

feasibility study). You will find more

information on the public support

mechanisms in your country on the

website. In order to have

complete information on possible support,

you should also ask a regional expert in this

field.

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Running a cogeneration unit may have an

effect on the price you pay for electrical

energy. Even if your electricity bill will

decrease after installing a cogeneration unit,

the unit price of your electricity might

increase, because you purchase fewer units.

This effect must be taken into account in the

feasibility study before you decide whether to

install a cogeneration unit or not.

With the installation of a cogeneration unit,

your fuel consumption on the site will

increase. Therefore, you should contact your

fuel supplier to amend the contract, if

necessary.

Depending on your home country and

region, you might need to ask for a

permission of the building authorities

allowing you to install a small-scale

cogeneration unit. The building regulations

vary substantially across Europe, so that a

generalising statement is difficult to make. In

any case, you should get informed about the

regulations in your region.

In some countries, you will need a license to

generate electricity. In other countries, the

authorities will require you to fulfill certain

legal regulations if you want to sell your

electricity to a third party. These regulations

vary substantially depending on your country

and region. In order to clarify these rules you

need to ask a cogeneration expert.

13

A br ief project checkl is t

Electricity distributor

Fuel contract

Building authority

Administrative permitting andlicensing procedures

Emissions regulationsE

Maintenance

Public support mechanisms

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Make your f i rs t assessment wi thCOGEN easy .x ls

easy .xls

www.cogen-challenge.org

easy .xls

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1. Step: Location of the project:

2. Step: Determine your net heat demand

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allows you to make a first

rough assessment whether the installation of

a cogeneration unit is an option for you or

not. You can download this Excel file on the

website. By

entering key data of your project (buildings,

enterprise, offices, etc) in the blue boxes you

can assess easily the size and the

profitability of a suitable cogeneration unit

(results are shown in the grey boxes).

Please be aware that this is only a very

rough indicator whether your cogeneration

project is profitable or not. If the

"conclusions" at the end of the programme

appear in green, you should consult an

expert (e.g. a supplier, a developer, a

cogeneration facilitator) for carrying out a

feasibility study.

cannot assist you for

planning cogeneration projects based on

renewable fuels. These projects are more

complex to calculate as they, on the one

hand, need more technical equipment, and,

on the other hand, benefit from additional

financial support programmes.

This small users' guide explains to you

how to work with . Should

you have difficulties with this programme,

please contact the team

Please choose the country (and region)

where you want to realise your cogeneration

project. Due to geographical differences such

as climate conditions and public support

mechanisms, the location has got an

important impact on the calculation of the

profitability.

The net heat demand is the single most

important value that determines the size of

your high efficiency cogeneration unit. In

order to calculate the net heat demand,

please first choose whether you are using

gas or heating oil for heating your building.

Type in the annual consumption (in kWh for

gas, in litres for heating oil) of heating fuel.

You will find this information on the bill from

your energy distributor.

By selecting one of the six activities of the

drop-down menu you know the optimum

share of your heat demand that could be

covered by a cogeneration unit. You will see

automatically, how many hours of the year

the unit would be in operation, the thermal

capacity (in kW), and a graph with your heat

production (cogeneration and boiler) per

month.

If you use natural gas as fuel for your boiler,

you will automatically choose the natural gas

engine as cogeneration technology for your

project. In the case that you have an oil-fired

boiler, you have the choice to either opt for a

diesel-engine or for a natural gas engine.

Please type in the amount of your annual

electricity consumption and of your annual

electricity bill. The programme will calculate

the average electricity price that you pay and

multiply it with the amount of electricity

produced by your cogeneration unit. Below,

you will find your annual profits by producing

the power yourself.

Please type in, how much you pay per year

for heating oil / natural gas. The programme

will automatically calculate your average fuel

price and will determine the value of the heat

that you produce with the cogeneration unit.

3. Step: Choose a specific thermal profile

4. Step: Choose the cogeneration

technology

5. Step: Determine your profits from

producing electricity

6. Step: Determine your profits from

producing heat

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7. Step: Determine the long-term costs of

the cogeneration plant

easy .xls

8. Step: Determine the profitability of your

cogeneration project:

easy .xls

As page 9 of this brochure shows there are

long-term costs for investing into

cogeneration. calculates

automatically the amount of fuel consumed

by the cogeneration plant per year and the

level of annual maintenance costs. By typing

in the costs (per kWh in the case of natural

gas, per litre in the case of heating oil) you

can assess how large the fuel bill would be,

if you realise the project.

calculates for you the "Total

initial investment" which is the sum of the

cogeneration unit (72%), the installation

costs (7%), buildings adaptation costs (7%),

study costs (5%), grid connection costs (3%),

and other costs (6%).

COGEN

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In the case that you want to realise your

cogeneration project in one of the

focus countries (Austria,

Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and Spain),

will automatically calculate

the level of financial public support for your

plant.

For all other countries, you need to enter this

data yourself. Principally, there are two

support instruments: the first is an

investment aid that covers a certain

percentage of your initial investment costs.

Should your government have put such an

instrument in place, please enter the value

(in %) so that you can see the amount of

money that you will have to investment

yourself upfront. The second type of public

support instruments is paid on an annual

basis. Should your cogeneration plant be

eligible for such financial help, please type in

the amount of money (in €) you expect to

receive per year.

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challenge

easy .xls

If the "Conclusions" at the end of the programme appear in green, you should consult an expert for carrying out a feasibility study

Make your f i rs t assessment wi theasyCOGEN.xls

easy COGEN.xlswww.cogen-challenge.org

Name of the project :

First sizing of the cogeneration unit

1st

step : Location of the project

...type in the name of your project...

Rough calculation tool for small-scale cogeneration projects

= Enter your data in the blues boxes.

= The results are given in the grey boxes. If you want to, you can change the underlying formulas.

Austria

BelgiumFranceGermanySloveniaSpainOthers

COGENchallenge

COGENchal lenge

The basic guide on the principles and

profitability of small-scale cogeneration is

aimed at everybody who is interested in

reducing energy bills and contributing to a

cleaner environment. It explains in clear

terms what cogeneration is, who can use it,

and how much sense it makes from the

economic point of view. The guide includes

examples of typical small-scale cogeneration

applications and shows how to make a first

rough cost-benefit analysis.

In the case that you find the installation of a

cogeneration unit useful for your situation,

you should consult an expert. In six

European cities a “facilitator” for small-scale

cogeneration can assist interested parties

with his knowledge and experience with this

technology. In Graz (Austria), Namur

(Belgium), Frankfurt am Main (Germany),

Lyon (France), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and

Oviedo (Spain) the facilitators can be

contacted directly as experts for their regions

and countries. In most other European

countries there is a national cogeneration

association that is able to assist you.

The publication of this brochure has been

supported by the European Commission under its

Intelligent Energy Europe Programme. The sole

responsibility for the content of this publication lies

with the authors. It does not represent the opinion

of the Community. The European Commission is

not responsible for any use that may be made of

the information contained therein.

About this guide

Further information

Legal disclaimer

Visit our website

Contact

Under you will

find additional information on small-scale

cogeneration, including:

addresses of suppliers of

cogeneration units and of project

developers close to you

fact sheets describing the legal and

economic framework in your country

calculation tools that help you to

carry out feasibility tests

a list of showcases of successful

small-scale cogeneration projects

(target: 1,000)

a calendar showing information and

training events on small-scale

cogeneration

www.cogen-challenge.org

E: frank.knecht@cogen.org

Frank KnechtProject Co-ordinatorT: +32 (2) 772.82.90

The European information campaign on small-scale cogeneration

COGENchallenge