Combined Heat and Power plants (CHP or cogeneration plants) are based on the principle of combined heat and power generation: They are heating systems, which efficiently produce electricity at the same time. They are small power stations that transform the waste heat almost completely into heating energy. A CHP consists of an internal combustion engine, which drives a generator.
The heat from the engine’s cooling water and its exhausts is re-gained through a heat exchange device and can be led directly into the building’s heating system and water heater. The existing heating boiler is only needed on a few, particularly cold days of the year to cover for the peak heat demand.
The electricity produced by the generator is directly fed into the national grid. In most cases, the CHP operates parallel to the national grid, which means that the contact to the national grid remains active. This way, excess electricity can be fed into the national grid and short-term peak demands can be supplied by the national grid (net parallel operation).
If the national grid breaks down, our CHP modules can also be operated like an emergency generator (isolated operation). This allows for maximum security of electricity supply. It is also possible, for example in off-grid sites, to have a small local grid powered solely by the CHP plant in the isolated operation mode.
SOKRATHERM CHP units can be combined in size and number to exactly match the needs of the buildings and their users. Hospitals have different heat and electricity requirements than administration buildings, swimming pools a have different demand than industrial sites.
Our CHP units are thoroughly factory tested. They are delivered in a sound-absorbing case and are set up very quickly. They work extremely quietly and their elastic storage prevents any vibrations being transmitted to the building, therefore, a separate foundation is not necessary. Each CHP module comes with a micro-processor control system, which supervises the fully automatic operation. Our self-developed control system runs the modules, controls the operation data and automatically adjusts the power generation to the current energy demand.
