Is CHP right for your business?

Certain types of customers lend themselves better to CHP applications than do others. Desirable customer facility characteristics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Presence of large, centralized thermal loads. Typical examples of centralized heating systems include steam, hot water, and direct or indirect-fired furnaces. These systems may be in use for process heating and/or comfort conditioning applications.

• Extended hours of operation – ideally 24/7.
• Continuous processing or space conditioning operations.

• Steady electrical usage with a high load factor. Load factor is defined as the ratio of the average kW consumed at a location during a designated period to the peak kW load occurring within that same period

CHP systems configured to operate in either base load power mode or demand peak shaving mode are especially relevant to customers with long hours of operation, energy intensive operations, and larger establishments.

Backup power systems may be particularly valuable to businesses operating in markets where prolonged grid outages are frequent and result in substantial revenue loss.

Markets where prime power CHP systems can be helpful include those where the cost of electricity represents an unusually significant portion of the total facility’s operating cost and where customers are running continuous, critical processes. Utility power is not required, and may or may not be present to act as a backup power source to the customer’s prime power system.

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