Evaluation of Decentralised
Energy Systems – Fuel Poverty
Authors:
Oliver Martin-Du Pan
Prof. Dino Bouchlaghem
Prof. Philip Eames
Prof. Paul Rowley
Who Am I? - Oliver Martin-Du Pan
 Mechanical Engineer doing an industrial
doctorate (EngD) for Loughborough
University.
 Based at Buro Happold: a professional
services firm providing engineering
consultancy for all aspects of buildings.
Buro Happold
3
The research problem
 Investigate the sustainability and the
system performance of a decentralised
energy (DE) system; I am looking into:
 The viability of a DE system;
 The overall system performance.
4
Drivers Towards A Low Carbon Economy
In 2011, the UK was the 7th greatest producer of man-made
carbon emissions generated from fossil fuels. However, the
UK has become, through the Climate Change Act, the first
country to adopt a legally binding target to reduce its CO2
emissions by at least 80% by 2050.
5
Drivers Towards A Low Carbon Economy
• The Kyoto Protocol, in 1997, set the UK to cut its carbon
emissions by 2012, whereas the Climate Change Act in
2008 set the UK to cut its carbon emission another
further by 2020 and 2050.
The carbon emission Targets:
Millions tons tonnes CO2_eq
• 12.5% by 2012;
• 33% by 2020;
• 80% by 2050.
GHG Reduction targets
6
Total emissions
Strategies to Reduce the Carbon Emissions
 There exist two active means to reduce carbon
emissions; these means are through:
 Renewable energy, and
 Efficiency, such as using a CHP engine:
7
Decentralised Energy Financial Analysis
 The financial analysis and the payback
calculation of a decentralised energy
technology can be calculated after determining:
 The installation cost;
 The maintenance cost; and
 The operating cost with and without the
decentralised technology.
8
Economic Profitability
 Economic profitability improves if:
Market Conditions allow for a competitive DE
heat and electricity price;
Low service and maintenance costs;
Low demands on rate of return from the owners.
9
Case Study: A Hotel in Central London
 This is a 31,000m2 building that
has been built in a steel
structure; it opened its doors in
1909;
 It has got 785 guest rooms and
accommodated 317,000 guests
in 2010;
• No air conditioning in the guest rooms;
• Their Chief Engineer is passionate about system
performance and has a good relationship with their CHP
supplier.
10
Hotel’s Energy Plant
2 x 250kWe CHP engines
2 x 800kW Boilers
No thermal storage, but the piping
loop from the energy plant to
every radiator and heat exchanger
in the hotel acts as a thermal
storage; it can store hat water up
to 90dgC.
11
Commercial Terms
 The CHP engines are leased from the
supplier over a 12 year term – “Off Balance
Sheet”;
 To cover the maintenance cost and to give the
supplier a return on capital, the hotel agreed
to pay a monthly amount of daily annual
generation of1,000MWh of electricity per
engine per year; hence the current cost is
approximately 92,000£/Year.
4.15p/kWhe day rate;
1.39p/kWh night rate
12
Financial Operation Compared To The Baseline
Prices:
• Gas:
• Electricity
-day: 1.791p/kWh
- day: 6.786 p/kWh
- night: 1.791p/kWh
- night:3.789 p/kWh
Payment to the energy supplier:
• £90,557 per year
Maintenance cost:
• £13,000 per year
Savings from CHP engine:
• £77,000 in 2010
The hotel savings:
Summing the monthly
saving, the losses equals
to £564.
Payback:
The installation cost for these
two engines was of £420,000,
hence the payback is obtained
after ~5.5 years for the owner
of the engines (the energy
supplier).
Figure 6: Financial operation of the hotel's energy plant compared to the baseline.
13
Hotel Summary
 Hotel’s energy demand:
 Heat:
4,797 MWh/year
 Electricity: 2,081 MWh/year
 Decentralised energy generation:
 Heat: 2,923 MWh/year (61%)
 Elec: 1,864 MWh/year (90%)
 CO2 reduction: 20%
 Payback: ~5.5 years
14
Case Study: Pimlico
•At present, an energy centre produces
heat and electricity from a new Energy
Centre and supplies it through a district
heating network to:
•3191 residential property
•55 commercial properties:
•A glass-faced accumulator tower was built in 1950 to collect heat from
the now disused Battersea’s combined heat and power (CHP) Power
station built on the opposite side of the Thames.
• Because of its scale Pimlico DH needs to comply with the stringent EU
ETS regulation without increasing the amount of fuel poor household.
15
What Is and Why District Heating in the UK?
 District heating is the use of a decentralised boiler
installation (or other technology) to provide more
sustainable or cheaper heat to a number of buildings.
 The Mayor of London has set a target to generate 25 per
cent of London’s energy from decentralised sources by
2025. This will reduce the CO2 emissions.
16
Heat Distribution: Heat = ~5.5p/kWh
17
Questions?
 Can Pimlico comply under climate change
regulations while minimising fuel poverty?
18
Acknowledgements
 Prof. Philip Eames – Academic supervisor (Loughborough
University)
 Prof. Paul Rowley – Academic supervisor (Loughborough
University)
 Buro Happold Engineers and the EPSRC for funding this project
Thank You