Combined Heat & Power Plants

We had quite a lot of hyperbole about Combined Heat and Power plants, one of which is to accompany the proposed eco-town at Rackheath.   What we have never seen is any information about the unit which is to built at Rackheath,  what form of fuelling it will use and what processes are to be incorporated to reduce particulate emmissions and  to deal with CO2 discharge; nor indeed how the district heating will work.

One of our members visited a plant in Austria which was open to the public and this is what he found.  A huge industrial complex with heavy motorised handling equipment.  A pelletisation plant to reduce the timber to suitable proportions for the boiler and a single stage turbine producing about 7 MW of power.

The following pictures give some indication of what such a plant looks like, the scale of the operation associated with it:



The district heating system looses quite a large proportion of its heat because of transmission losses.  The operators say that due to these unavoidable losses district heating is suitable only for densely populated areas as an alternative heat supply.

This does not seem to equate to the 'warm' words produced by the Council.




5 comments:

  1. Funny how Broadland DC and the Developers NEVER give us the details. If this ECO development you can keep it.

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  2. You can see why the CPRE stated that Rackheath was NOT Eco but just a massive Barratt Homes urban housing estate dumped in the countryside

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  3. Once again very narrow minded arguments by dinosaurs opposing green development to provide jobs and houses. Plenty of these plants operate successfully and are not 7MW output. Witness the UEA.
    Sensible Broadloving reedcutter.

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  4. Thanks for your valued contribution 'Sensible Broadloving Reedcutter'. It is really helpful in exploding the myth that these proposals have a sound economic basis. You argument seems to be based on vilifying the opposition and extolling the value of greenwash.
    Incidentally how many acres of agricultural land is diverted to produce fuel for the UEA plant, instead of food?

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  5. Interesting read, seems there are some comments up in arms, still combined heat and power is a useful technology - do you think it has been employed in the right way here?

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