![]() However, if there are thermal loads to be served, the efficiency gains from CHP tend to produce a more economical long-term investment.Īcross the power industry, new CHP installations have remained relatively steady, while solar PV installations have been accelerating. Compared to a power-only gas generator, it takes more engineering, equipment, and time to install a CHP system with heat recovery, especially when distributing to multiple buildings. CHP systems require a consistent thermal load in the form of steam, hot water, or chilled water. Not all buildings and campuses have the necessary thermal loads for CHP, and many microgrids are using power-only natural gas generators to meet their needs for resilient baseload power. In contrast, planned microgrids only include those coming online within the next 3-4 years, and less than 20% of these microgrids will incorporate CHP. Over a span of thirty years, these installations contributed to CHP having the most installed capacity compared to other technologies in operational microgrids. According to ICF’s Microgrid Database, more than half of all microgrids installed before 2010 included CHP, and most of these did not incorporate other technologies. ![]() The category of operational microgrids includes campus CHP systems that date back to the 1980s. In this blog we explore the factors driving these trends, and what they could mean for the future of microgrids. Non-CHP natural gas generators-those that do not incorporate heat recovery-have also taken the lead over CHP in planned microgrids. As can be seen in the chart below, CHP accounts for 3 times the capacity of solar PV in operational microgrids, while it only accounts for half of PV’s planned capacity. ![]() As technologies advance and the market matures, microgrids will increasingly utilize a mix of distributed energy resources (DERs), including PV and energy storage, optimized for the needs of end-users and electric utilities.ĬHP provides an efficient and resilient anchor for microgrids, but planned capacity for CHP in microgrids is falling behind solar, and even non-CHP natural gas generators. This was especially striking when compared to planned installations for combined heat and power (CHP), the traditionally dominant microgrid technology. The biggest takeaway from the blog post, as highlighted in articles from Microgrid Knowledge and Clean Technica, was the large amount of planned solar PV capacity in microgrids. In our first microgrid blog, ICF used our new database to identify four trends that are expected to drive the future of microgrid development. ![]()
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