Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, is the production of electricity and useful thermal energy (heating and/or cooling) from a single source of energy.

 

CHP’s are essentially engines that can be fueled by natural gas, renewable natural gas, diesel or hydrogen and range in size from a few kW to many MW.

 

CHP’s can be either reciprocating engines or turbine engines. Reciprocating engines are much more common as they typically have lower up-front costs but higher maintenance costs.   

 

A key advantage of a CHP is that it’s a type of distributed generation located at the point of electricity and heat consumption. Centralized generation often waste the thermal energy making them much less efficient.  If the facility can make use of the heat, CHP’s can be 80 to 90% efficient.

 

CHP’s are excellent for facilities that have:

• A consistent base load electricity demand

• A thermal demand