Cogeneration transforms about 90% of energy into electricity and heat for factories, buildings, industry and homes, said Hans Korteweg – Managing Director COGEN, at the Regional Approach Brussels conference, organized by Energynomics.
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“CHP (combined heat and power) represents about 12% of the electricity production in Europe and about 14% of the heat generation and it has been relatively stable over the past 10 years. Of course, there is a lot of technical and economic potential to double the electricity generation from 12% to more than 20%, and from the heat perspective we are talking about from 14-15% to about 25% by 2030, with the right regulations in place. In terms of the fuel mix, CHP is fuel-agnostic, we don’t promote any particular fuel, but today natural gas has been pretty much steady for the last decade or so, hovering around 40 to 45%. The real important takeaway here is that it has been a rapid increase in renewables, reaching close to 26% in 2019, from 13% in 2009 – so almost a doubling, replacing fossil fuels or oil use in CHP,” said Hans Korteweg.
Fit for 55 package is here with us today, there are many different facets to this legislation pack, focusing on the 2030 climate targets. It is important that investors have a predictable policy framework. Investors need a long time horizon in order to make those important investments in new technologies and so forth. What is key for cogeneration in the Fit for 55 is the Energy Efficiency Directive, which was also reviewed in the Clean Energy Package, but only parts of it. I think that what is important in Fit for 55 package today is that it is taking a holistic approach. It is looking at everything at the same time, and you’ll probably ask my team if it is manageable, as there are so many things that we are reviewing and following – the Energy Efficiency Directive, The Renewable Energy Directive, the Emissions Trading Scheme, now covering buildings and transport. All of these have an impact on our sector – CHP,” he added.
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For the CHP segment, the most important is the Energy Efficiency Directive.
“I would like to see the energy efficiency’s first principle applied, not just spoken about. Everyone agrees that energy efficiency is important, but when it comes to actual proposals in legislation, is mentioned, but is not really acknowledged and not actually transposed into policies that actually support the promotion of energy efficiency in the context of CHP. We want to see support for energy efficiency in conversion, generation, transmission, distribution and final use. We need to focus on the whole value chain,” he also said.
The conference Regional Approach Brussels – Energy Transition was organized by Energynomics with the support of our partners: Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe, MET România Energy, Restart Energy.