CHP NICHE MARKETS

CHP, like many technologies, finds traction in markets with unique factors that contribute to the technical and economic feasbility of the technologies. "Niche marketing" finds these factors and informs the potential CHP adopters of the benefits from using onsite CHP such as reliable power, available thermal energy, and increased efficiencies. Often, these markets have flat load profiles and high thermal/electric ratios.

USCHPA recently debuted its CHP in food processing initiative for this very promising market. Food safety is a key driver in today’s food & beverage industry, requiring both reliable power and hot water for cleanup in some market sectors. Food & beverage processors are energy-intensive industries, fueled by consumer trends toward highly processed, pre-packaged meals and snacks, and even high protein diets. Food & beverage processors need reliable power to stay online during power grid blackouts and even momentary power sags. Power outages can be very expensive; for example, in the chocolate processing industry, hot chocolate is piped over long distances in the “conch” process. If power is lost, chocolate congeals within 3-5 minutes—and the plant could be down for 2 hours, or entire pipelines may have to be discarded. See www.sentech.org/CHP4foodprocessing for preferred food processing market sector profiles, thermal energy opportunities, etc.

USEPA has been focusing on the niche market of ethanol production in the Midwest, a growing market with a significant need for electric and thermal energy. EPA's CHP Partnership is working closely with DOE’s Midwest CHP Application Center, presenting at national ethanol conference, preparing for workshops in other states, and exploring opportunity for CHP with 5-7 ethanol plants. See www.epa.gov/chp/ for more information.

Hospitals are excellent candidates for CHP systems because they have high electrical and thermal energy needs that generally follow each other and have significant energy demands 24/7/365. CHP also can generate significant cost savings for hospitals. A CHP system can operate in the range of 4 cents a kilowatt-hour. In regions of the country such as New York, where hospitals pay 16 cents per kWh, CHP trims operating costs. Beyond dollars and cents, CHP enhances the quality of power. On a typical day during the peak power period, there may be interruptions in voltages and even fluctuations in frequencies, which wreak havoc on clinical equipment. But CHP can assure smooth, continuous operation of clinical devices. One hospital had between 60 and 70 disruptions of power a year that caused downtime of the laboratory equipment and testing facilities. For more information and links, see http://www.chpcentermw.org/06-01_application.html.