COGENERATION PLANT OF THE FUTURE
ECN created and manages the project consortium “Safe and clean energy for Sokołów”, which topped the ranking list of the first stage of the project “Combined Heat and Power Plant in the local energy system”, implemented by NCBR under the Intelligent Development Program, with funds from European Funds.
Thanks to the combination of biogas technology and heat pumps, the share of RES in energy production will exceed 95%. The new technology is a real opportunity to become independent of fossil fuels, whose prices are soaring due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
The implemented Project is an active component of the local energy system. The CHP plant will produce and sell electricity when its market price is highest, that is, when energy is most in short supply. The free disposal of electricity will be made possible, among other things, by storing the biogas produced. In this way, barriers to the efficient use of renewable sources in heating and power generation will finally be broken down. The innovative system will operate using nearly 100% renewable energy sources and provide residents with heat at a price comparable to traditional systems using fossil fuels. The process does not use biomass combustion due to the environmental burden.
PROCUREMENT NAME: 88/21/PU/P63 – COMBINED HEAT AND POWER PLANT IN THE LOCAL ENERGY SYSTEM
Procurement status: Completed
Order number: 88/21/PU/P63
Start date: 28.05.2021
Completion date: 14.07.2021 13:00
Estimated value of the contract: PLN 41 million gross
Publishing entity: DRIM
Order description: The main objective of the project “CHP in the local energy system” is to develop and demonstrate an innovative technology for a universal system of energy generation and storage for heating purposes combined with cogeneration based on renewable energy sources for self-balancing the local electricity system.
COGENERATION ENGINES, HEAT PUMPS AND A BIOGAS BOILER
The Sokołów CHP plant, according to the project, will become an active element of the local power system, stabilizing the operation of units that produce energy from renewable sources and face daily and seasonal mismatches of supply and demand.
The separate municipal district heating network will be powered by energy generated by a system of combined heat and power (CHP) engines, heat pumps and a biogas boiler, where the fuel will be biomethane of agricultural origin, and in the future also generated from industrial and municipal waste. The city’s district heating network will supply heat with parameters at 80/60 Celsius degrees, while in the future the parameters can be lowered to 70/50 Celsius degrees, which will help reduce losses in the district heating network.
The cogeneration system, powered by biomethane, will generate electricity and heat from stored “green” energy. The schedule of its operation will depend not only on the current needs of the CHP plant, but also on the market demand for electricity, i.e. on the current sale/purchase price. It will be possible to manage the operation of the CHP module by storing the generated biogas, intelligently controlling the operation of air/water heat pumps.
The developed system will be prepared to supply hydrogen and to produce compressed biomethane (bioCNG), which can be used to power city buses and agricultural machinery. Ultimately, the local energy system will integrate electrical infrastructure with a total capacity of about 10 megawatts, including: wind turbines, photovoltaic farms and biomethane-powered cogenerators.
Nearly 100% RES and system integration
The creators of the innovative concept have the ambition that the solutions being prepared will serve to improve the security and energy autonomy of the city and district of Sokołów Podlaski, while guaranteeing socially acceptable prices for utility services.
Compared to other concepts, the project for Sokołów Podlaski is particularly distinguished by the integration, based on the work of artificial intelligence, of many geographically dispersed elements of RES technology, and in particular the construction of a full biomethane technology pathway, including the production of biogas, its storage, refinement, and transport from agricultural land to the city, where it is used to produce heat and electricity (and perhaps in the future also to produce cooling and fuel for clean public transport).
At the same time, the initiative is part of the cluster’s broader strategy, which is to strive to build a self-balancing energy area, for the local district heating plant to achieve the status of an energy-efficient enterprise, and for the implementation of modern energy services for households and businesses. These services include, for example, the launch of green public transportation, support for the development of individual electromobility, individual and institutional prosumers, the construction of systemic hybrid heat, and the development of smart metering. All of this goes hand in hand with strengthening modern energy competence.
