David Shadle, T&D World
Summary
In recent years there has been a lot of buzz over distributed energy resources (DERs) with renewables based systems such as solar installations getting the limelight. However, before solar DERs were a thing and even before we coined the phrase DER, there were distributed power facilities that provided significant benefits in compatible commercial and industrial settings. These facilities employed cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) technology to convert waste or excess thermal energy to more efficient heat and power. While frequently located unobtrusively and operated out of sight today, this technology is as important as ever in the movement to increase energy efficiency, lower utility costs and minimize the risk of power disruptions through distributed supply.
Prior to the adoption of the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) of 1978, most cogeneration installations were located at refineries, pulp mills or other industrial sites with significant steam and electric loads. Excess steam was used to generate electricity that was consumed entirely within the facility. After PURPA was adopted, utilities were required to buy back excess power from cogenerators at their avoided generation cost. While reaching an agreement with a utility to actually buy their excess generation was never easy, the new law helped pave the way for a broader use of cogeneration with a growing number of installations at factories, hospitals, hotels and housing facilities that required a year-round source of hot water and electric. Facilities with a cooling or refrigeration load also got into the act with combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) installations or tri-generation operations.
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