CHP Modeling as a Tool for Electric Power Utilities to Understand Major Industrial Customers

Abstract

In the face of pending deregulation, many electric utilities are struggling to retain major industrial customers. The strategies for retaining customers, especially those with cogeneration options, include: • Superior customer service and innovative contract terms • Identifying cost-effective alternatives to cogeneration that are in fact better for the customer • Treating potential cogeneration candidates as partners in a “distributed generation and supply” chain. The first step in understanding the available options and appropriate strategy is to properly understand the customers’ thermal and electric energy needs, and the existing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system. This paper outlines an approach for developing such models at low cost, and using them as a tool towards the aforementioned goal.