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CHP Applications in Ireland
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CHP is not new technology in
Ireland. Most CHP in the period before 1993 was steam cycle based
and used coal, peat or oil as fuel. By 1993 there were 13 CHP
sites in the country with installed capacity of 55 MWe. It tended
to be associated with sites where the steam demand was high and
where requirements for electricity were large in relation to local
grid capacity. Examples include brewing, sugar extraction, milk
drying and briquette manufacture. |
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CHP Development in Ireland
Sustainable Energy Ireland, was instrumental in ensuring
the success of a joint application by Bord Gáis and ESB for funding
under the EU’s THERMIE programme for a scheme to install 10 CHP units
in a variety of applications. This programme part funded CHP applications
ranging from 50kW to 750kW on 10 sites in hotels, hospitals and small
industrial and commercial enterprises around the country. These applications
have demonstrated the reliability of the latest CHP technology and contract
servicing. A further fourteen small scale CHP reference sites were supported
by Sustainable Energy Ireland through the Energy Efficiency Investment
Support Scheme.
The installed capacity of operational CHP units increased
from 56.8MWe in 1981 to 125.3MWe in 2002 – an overall increase of 121%
and an average annual growth rate of 7.5%.
CHP Applications in Ireland
The bulk of the installed capacity – over 80% – is
in the industrial sector. However, most of the actual installations
are in the services sector - hotels, hospitals, colleges etc. A similar
proportion of the installed capacity is fuelled by natural gas.The remainder
are mainly diesel or gas oil, with some installations fired by solid
fuel.
As a relatively small CHP market by international and
European standards, Ireland has a long way to go to reach the CHP development
levels in other European Countries. The Irish market of 131.5MW of capacity
consists of about 105 units and around 100 actual CHP sites. (Source:
SEI)
Although there is a major large-scale CHP project (150MW)
under development at the Aughinish Alumina, alumina manufacturing site
in Co Limerick there are currently no very large-scale CHP schemes operational
in Ireland. The largest scheme is the 15MW project at Guinness Brewery
in Dublin. There are only 3 units with capacity above 10MWe and a further
27 units above 1MWe capacity. It is immediately clear at the outset
that Ireland is not only a small market, but also a market characterised
by relatively small CHP units.
Irish CHP Installations by Capacity
|
Electricity Capacity Size Range |
Number of Units Total (%) |
Share of Total (%) |
Total Electrical Capacity kWe |
Share of Total (%) |
Less than 100 kWe |
21 |
20 |
1574 |
1 |
100 kWe – 999kWe |
54 |
51 |
11781 |
9 |
1000 kWe – 9999 kWe |
27 |
26 |
80166 |
61 |
Greater than 10000kWe |
3 |
3 |
38000 |
29 |
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Total |
105 |
100 |
131521 |
100 |
In addition to being small the Irish CHP Market is
relatively underdeveloped with CHP accounting for only 2.4% of total
electricity generated as against an EU average of 10% and proportions
as high as 50% in the Netherlands and Denmark.
The table above sets out the capacity ranges of Ireland’s
installed capacity. It can be seen that while only 29% of actual units
have a capacity greater than 1MWe they account for some 90% of the actual
electricity produced. There is currently more rapid growth in the smaller
end of the market in terms of new units installed. Viable technology
has now reached the domestic sector and a number of pilot programmes
are underway.
CHP in Ireland: Some Facts
Installed Capacity
- The total installed capacity of CHP in Ireland at the end of 2002
was 131.5 MWe an increase of 2.2 % over 2001.
- The installed capacity of operational CHP units increased from
56.8 MWe in 1991 to 125.3 MWe in 2002. This represents an overall
increase of 121% and an average annual growth rate of 7.5%.
- In 2002 the bulk of installed capacity (82% or 108 MWe) was in the
industrial sector.
- Over the period 1994 to 2002 (the period where a subsectoral breakdown
is available) there was growth across most sectors and industrial
sub-sectors.
- The largest absolute increase (24.7 MWe) over the same period occurred
in the food, beverages and tobacco industrial sub-sector.
Number of Units
- There was a total of 105 CHP units in 2002, an increase of 7 units
on 2001. The number of operational units in 1991 was only 10.
- In 2002, the services sector, comprising private services (hotels,
leisure centres, etc.) and public services (hospitals, universities
etc.), accounted for 77 (73%) of the 105 units.
- In 2002 food, beverages and tobacco was the most populated industrial
sub-sector with a total of 13 units.
- Over the period 1994-2002 most of the growth in the number of CHP
units can be attributed to the services sector. In 2002, the services
sector accounted for 73% (69 units) of the total number compared with
18% in 1994.
Future Growth
- Future growth in installed CHP capacity is expected to be dominated
by a small number of large units in the industrial sector. There are
also a number of smaller capacity units planned for the services sector.
*Source: SEI
Megawatt electrical or MWe is the unit which represents the installed
electricity generating capacity or size of a CHP plant. The sectors
and industrial sub-sectors used in this report are per Eurostat methodology.
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