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Cogeneration: heat and electricity from natural gas
13
December
2017
In our Dassenveld distribution centre in Halle, we’ve used cogeneration since June 2015. This impressive installation generates electricity and heat simultaneously on a large scale from natural gas. Ideal for our distribution centre!
Smart and sustainable
Cogeneration is one of the most sustainable and efficient ways to produce two forms of energy simultaneously. The generated energy is used locally, which means less electricity of the grid is needed.
The cogeneration installation generates large amounts of power and heat each year: about 4,900 MWh of electricity (equivalent to about 1,400 families’ consumption) and about 5,200 MWh of thermal energy, (equivalent to 260 families’ consumption).
Cogeneration produces electricity and heat simultaneously on a large scale
Ideal location
“A distribution centre is the ideal location for this kind of installation,” says Jeroen Martens, operating engineer at Eoly. “The crate washer needs a lot of heat. With this large installation, we can clean all the blue crates we use for transporting fresh produce to our shops. In addition, we need to heat the distribution centre’s large buildings. This means that we need extra heat in winter. And the more heat we need, the more the installation comes into its own.”
How does cogeneration work?
The installation is very ingenious. “The gas is burned in the installation’s engine. This drives the generator which, in turn, generates electricity. The heat from this is not lost, but is used to heat water for the central heating and the crate washer. The result is that we need to use less additional energy for hot water,” explains Jeroen.
With this initiative, we contribute to the following Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
