01/08/2000

The New Name in CHP

RandTech may be a new name in CHP, but it has already earned an impressive reputation by supplying the combined heat and power system to the award winning Sainsbury’s Millennium Store in Greenwich, together with a number of industrial applications.

The RandTech GEM (Green Energy Module) CHP unit is available in a range of outputs starting with the GEM 44, with an electrical output of 44 kWe, up to the larger GEM 3000 rated at 3 mWe. End-users have a choice of engines fuelled by natural gas or diesel oil. The engine driven alternator generates electricity while the engine heat is reclaimed via integral heat exchangers allowing it to be utilised in a number of applications such as process machinery, heating equipment or air conditioning systems.

Demonstrating the energy efficiency potential of CHP, RandTech quotes the GEM 210 as being typical of expected system output: for each £100 worth of gas consumed, the GEM 210 will produce £204 worth of electricity and £74 worth of hot water. In addition it will recover 75 per cent of the total generated latent heat. Another major financial gain is that CHP systems are exempt from the Climate Change Levy, which comes into force in April 2001.

For easy installation, the GEM CHP systems connect direct to the existing energy infrastructure insuring little or no intrusion to the existing business process and minimal supervision by staff.

They are designed to run in parallel with existing electricity supplies, so there is no need to disconnect from the electricity supplier.

When budget constraints exist, the GEM units can be supplied on a range of short-term or medium-term rental agreements, thereby avoiding capital investment for energy production.