Case Study presentation on a cogeneration project

1. Cogeneration on Campus
Cogent Plant at UNSW
Nalin Wickramasinghe
25 June 2010
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2. Overview
Cogent Energy – overview & business model
 UNSW – Lowy Cancer Research Centre project
 background
 plant overview
 benefits achieved
 Campus configuration vs. CBD commercial tower
 Future opportunities at UNSW campus
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3. Company Overview
Distributed energy retailer and network operator
 Licensed electricity retailer
 Founded in early 2007 – offices in Melbourne & Sydney
 Cogent is a BOOT scheme operator
 Currently operating 6 plants – 5.4 MWe capacity
 Further 2 plants under construction – 1.8 MWe
 Since July 2009 fully-owned by Origin Energy Retail
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4. Cogent Energy Business Model
 Cogent is a licensed retailer & also owns the plant:
 Majority financed by Cogent
 Cogent designs, configures & maintains plant -
We invoice monthly metered energy – electricity & thermal
 Competitive energy pricing compared to similar grid supplied
Client’s scope includes:
 Provision of suitable plant room with ventilation & sound attenuation
 Bring electrical distribution & thermal reticulation systems to Cogent plant
 Natural gas connection from meter set
12 year supply agreement with client (building owner)
 Option to extend at end of period or buyout the plant at residual value
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5. UNSW Lowy Cancer Research Centre
Dedicated cancer research facility - $127m project
 Located on UNSW campus at Kensington
 16,500 sqm facility accommodating 400 specialist staff
 One of the largest facilities in southern hemisphere
State-of-the-art facility with many ESD features
Cogeneration was a key part of the ESD strategy
Cogent Energy awarded contract to design, install & operate a
cogen plant (12 year term)
Construction commenced in September 09 and the cogen plant
was commissioned in November 09
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12. Overview of UNSW Plant
MTU gas reciprocating engine
 772 kWe (4000 series V8 unit / 415v alternator)
 Containerized within acoustic enclosure – rooftop location
 Heat recovery module – 410 kW (hot water)
Plant is configured in parallel with incoming feeder
Excess Electricity fed back into the 11kV UNSW owned ring
and utilized within the University
Cogent operate plant peak & shoulder periods (15hrs x 5
days) with off-peak grid supply
Plant is monitored & managed remotely in real-time via
Back Office System
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13. Benefits of UNSW Cogen Plant
Reliability: highly reliable parallel cogen solution running
parallel with grid
Energy Efficiency: up to 70% achieved
Sustainability: Saving of approximately 1,600 tonnes of CO2
per annum
Offers UNSW certainty of energy pricing & control over
carbon emissions
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14. Advantages of the Campus Configuration
 Typical CBD commercial tower configuration has constraints:
 Parallel import with no export – plant sizing is critical
 Considerable modulation with building load variation
 Impacts plant efficiency
 Campus configuration eliminates these:
 Plant is connected in parallel with a LV feeder from UNSW Substation
 Means plant can operate at full capacity – excess electricity exported in
to ring & supplied to other UNSW buildings
 “Exporting” achieved without the legal issues & energy market
complexities
 Similar utilization of hot water via campus reticulation
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15. Typical Commercial Building Profile
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16. UNSW Lowy Cancer Research Centre – Cogen & Grid Profiles
HV Ring/Engine Split
1000
800
600
400
kW 200
KVAR
KVA 0
-200
-400
-600
-800
"HV Ring Demand Real Power - Sliding" Cogen Total Demand Real Power - Sliding
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17. Future Opportunities on Campus
Cogent is currently working on a 1.2 MWe trigeneration
plant
 Located at Central Energy Plant
 Supply the new Tyree Energy Technology Building
 Connected to electrical ring main & chilled water reticulation system
Further development: Cogent doing preliminary
feasibility on 2 more plants on campus
 Capacities in the range 400 kWe – 800 kWe
Efficient utilization of the 2 ring mains on the UNSW
campus
Further reticulation of hot water around the campus
from cogen plant
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18. In General…..
Market for DE has grown rapidly over the past 12 months
City of Sydney 2030 project (330 MW) has added impetus
We have made progress with over 7.0 MW committed in
Sydney & Melbourne
Still many challenges to overcome……….
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19. Thank you…………………..
nalin@cogentenergy.com.au
+61 (0)437 260 822
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