REFERENCE PROJECT

CHP TECHNOLOGY IN NEW APARTMENT BLOCKS

Neighbourhood flow – a win-win situation for all concerned

TASK

Innovative energy concepts allow building owners to combine sustainability and cost-effectiveness in a unique way. The starting point is often a combined heat and power plant, which supplies both electricity and heat, making it less dependent on external suppliers and creating more scope for new use and recycling models.

GEWOBA in Emden is a prime example of this approach. The municipal housing company developed a new residential neighbourhood by building a new sheltered housing block, six detached houses and four multi-storey blocks of four, eight and twelve flats near an existing apartment block. These buildings are connected to a local heating network, which in turn is fed by a combined heat and power plant.

SOLUTION

The neoTower® was installed in a separate heating plant. The system provides up to 63 kW of heat, easily covering the base load for all the buildings in the new neighbourhood. The heat is stored in a 3,000-litre buffer tank to minimise circulation. Peak loads are covered by an additional condensing boiler.

However, the neoTower®, with up to 30 kW of power, will primarily be used to supply tenants with their own electricity, with any surplus being fed into the public grid. The system can be continuously modulated over a wide range to optimise efficiency. Thanks to seamless remote monitoring, operating parameters can be analysed and optimised directly from our factory, making it much easier to plan maintenance schedules in advance.

CONCLUSION

With the neoTower® as a service provider, GEWOBA, as developer and manager, was able to implement a usage model that also benefits the tenants. They are free to choose their energy supplier, but most of them prefer to buy their electricity from their landlord: at prices significantly lower than those offered on the consumer market. GEWOBA, in turn, receives more cents per kWh than would be possible on the basis of the feed-in tariff.

In addition, the grid usage fee, which is otherwise part of the feed-in tariff, will no longer apply. Finally, selling your own electricity is an economic scenario for the period when the CHP Act surcharges cease to apply. In this way, both sides benefit from generating electricity in their own neighbourhood.

OVERVIEW

Customer: GEWOBA Emden
Field of application: Residential area
Location: Emden
Combined heat and power plant: neoTower® 30.0
Gas type: Natural gas
Rated output – electrica: 30,0 kW
Rated output – thermal: 63,1 kW