Decentralised energy generation system – planning, financing, operation

Criteria related to the energy supply of industrial enterprises

Nowadays, the reliable and low-priced supply of its business with power and heat more than ever is one of the most important tasks of an industrial enterprise. Whether and to what extent the energy demand can be covered with the operation of a decentralised energy generation system is determined by

• possible public subsidies,
• technologies to be considered,
• the manufacturing methods used in the production of the industrial enterprise, and
• the chronological development of the demand.

Other important criteria are

• the availability and
• prices of energy sources to be considered.

Decentralised energy generation system for industrial enterprises

Energy generation systems for a reliable power supply

For many companies, the question arises about an environmentally friendly and at the same time cost-efficient power and heat supply. Systems that generate power from wind, photovoltaic or water energy alone, are only suitable for a decentralised energy supply to a limited degree, because the reliable power supply of the production must also be ensured when it is dark and during low-wind periods. Insofar, a decentralised energy generation based on regenerative energies can usually only be an add-on to the electricity purchased from the public grid.

Thanks to the public subsidies and the resulting expansion of renewable energies, a large number of systems have been connected to the grid in Germany in recent years.

The supply of power generated by these systems into the public power supply grids leads to a steady rise in electricity rates on the one hand, as the costs are passed on to consumers, and to strong fluctuations in the grid on the other hand, for the compensation of which our reliance on conventional power plant technology will continue in the future.

Moreover, investments into the transmission grids will be required, to connect the energy generation system for renewable energies from sunny and high-wind areas with the consumers. Because of climbing grid costs, these investments also lead to a rise in electricity costs for industrial enterprises.

Advantages of own energy generation

A decentralised power generation system represents an ecologically highly effective contribution to the realisation of the energy transition. With a partial supply from an own energy generation system, the renewable energy sources already present in the grid are being utilised, such as solar, wind, biomass and hydropower. The power generated with the own generation system relieves the grids and reduces the grid utilisation fees for the user of this system. By expanding the own generation with a battery bank, it is possible to absorb momentary power peaks of the purchased electricity, thereby further reducing the grid costs. An additional economic benefit of own energy generation can be derived from the supply and marketing of so-called balancing energy by means of the own generation system.

Energy generation with combined heat and power

In addition to the energy demand, most companies have an additional demand for heat. The latter can be satisfied in a very efficient – and hence also low-cost and low-emission – manner with an own generation system that is based on combined heat and power.

The operation of a system for the combined heat and power generation is promoted by the federal government (promotion in accordance with the CHP Act (KWK-Gesetz).

Thanks to the very high fuel utilisation factor of current state-of-the art CHP systems of up to 90%, an improvement in the efficiency is achieved in the statistics of German power generation, thereby making a contribution to the reduction of the CO₂ emissions.

For many companies, the power they generate by means of the CHP technology is less expensive than the one purchased from the grid. Numerous companies in the production industry already benefit from low energy costs by using the “special compensation rules” or the regulation of hardship cases in accordance with the Renewable Energy Sources Act in connection with the grid fee exemption. Nevertheless, the installation of a CHP system may still be worthwhile if it is expected that the business might no longer be covered by the EEG exemption rules in the future.

State-of-the art energy supply methods

For companies whose electricity costs are very low, the required thermal energy can be generated more economically and environmentally friendly by means of a state-of-the art energy generation system, whether in the form of

• steam,
• hot water or
• thermal oil

used for the heating or cooling of processes or for the drying of products.

Efficient energy generation system for the supply of heat to industrial enterprises

The possible use of fuels such as

• biomass,
• natural gas,
• coal or
• production residues should be examined in this context.

Waste heat sources are often available at the companies for this purpose, which possess an adequate potential to save valuable primary energy by utilising waste heat.

Energy generation systems from GETEC

Experts at GETEC are available to our customers for the professional planning of energy generation systems. We develop an optimised plant design that fulfils the specific requirements of the industrial enterprise and provide advice from the start of your project.

Upon completion of the required planning steps including the regulatory approval procedures, we take care of the installation and start-up of the own energy generation plant on behalf of the client. We finance and operate the system that was set up on the basis of our many years of experience and proven conceptual designs on behalf of the client. We have an extensive list of reference projects, in which we purposefully use suitable products selected from a range of diverse energy generation systems of renowned manufacturers.

After all, our services for everything to do with the operation of the energy generation system are rendered over a period requested by the industrial client and range from the promise of guarantee to the “long-term agreement” that covers the entire economic service life of the systems. GETEC undertakes a comprehensive oversight of its customers’ systems. This starts with the procurement of all required permits and approvals and includes the handling of all official verification and application procedures throughout the entire support term.

In this fashion, the industrial enterprises are relieved in a resource-conserving fashion from responsibilities related to topics such as

• immission protection,
• energy tax credit,
• greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme, and
• subsidies for combined heat and power.

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