Energy Efficiency
1. Combined Heat &
Power (CHP)
Power technologies convert fuel into heat and electricity using processes similar to those employed with fossil fuels. At present, the primary approach for generating electricity from fuels such as biogas, biomass and natural gas is combustion direct-firing.
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Combustion systems for electricity and heat production are similar to most fossil-fuel fired-power plants. The fuels burned in a boiler to produce high-pressure steam which drives a turbine. The turbine is, in turn, connected to an electric generator, producing electricity. This is a widely available, commercial technology.
CHP Case Study
Aerospace Energy UK
Iona Environmental Infrastructure LP3 has provided all funding to install two 1.5
MW CHP engines to generate continuous power and heat to Mettis Aerospace
Limited. The facility manufactures precision forged and machined components
for the aerospace industry. Our long-term investment into Mettis Aerospace is designed to provide low carbon energy at a reduced cost.
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Advantage, our portfolio service operator, provides support to our CHP plants across the UK. Their core focus is on routine maintenance and health and safety checks as well as ensuring compliance and plant optimisation.
2. Distributed Energy
Network
A distributed energy network includes smaller scale natural gas and biomass CHPs co-located at client sites to provide an integrated and captive supply of heat and electricity to industrial and commercial energy users. This can be combined with other energy efficiency technologies (simple LED lighting, solar, energy storage and smart management systems) to deliver a holistic and packaged approach to optimising energy efficiency for a range of corporate and institutional customers.
The expansion of renewable energy in the UK is allied with greater intermittency of supply and increasingly disturbed energy systems. This, in turn creates a range of opportunities in environmental infrastructure investment. These include:
Combining local CHP systems with district heating systems to provide heat and power in, for example, industrial parks.
Installation and management of battery storage at local level and 'behind the meter' to provide resilience of supply, generate fee income and take advantage of arbitrage opportunities from market inefficiencies.
The rapid growth in electric vehicles (EVs) is driving a requirement of charging infrastructure. Opportunities will arise to fund the installation of this charging infrastructure where predictable yields can be secured.
