The energy produced in cogeneration power plants can be used in combination with the energy obtained from renewable sources, especially since it can be used for both heating and cooling – a topic that is discussed too little, believes Cristian Athanasovici, Business Development Manager at Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe GmbH
“Cogeneration solutions can be included in a mix with photovoltaics or with technical solutions that use geothermal energy and solar panels. Cogeneration is a solution especially today, when we talk about heating and cooling systems. But no one talks about cooling solutions”, stated Cristian Athanasovici, during the “Sustainable Communities – Timișoara” conference, organized by Energynomics and SmartiCity.
He added that the authorities should provide co-financing to those companies that upgrade their cogeneration power plants to be able to use both natural gas and hydrogen, which is seen as an energy source of the future.
At the same time, public authorities will have to pay more attention when granting construction permits for new buildings to integrate them into the existing heat energy supply system and thus avoid excessive pollution generated by individual heating plants. A start could be equipping hospitals and shopping malls with photovoltaic energy production units to run in parallel with the central heating system.
“The degree of centralization must be thought through very carefully. When we build such neighborhoods, we give permits for individual energy solutions. But the worst thing is to allow the use of individual heating sources for each building. We have to be careful not to bring pollution from outside the city into the city,” added Athanasovici.
Kawasaki develops efficient systems for the cogeneration of electricity and heat, and the most suitable units for ensuring the energy needs at the urban level are the smaller capacities, but with extremely high efficiency.
Kawasaki established its office in Bucharest in 2018 and currently has 67 employees. The office is responsible for sales and promotion activities in South-Eastern Europe. The company bases its business in the energy sector on three pillars, namely decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization.
Kawasaki’s total sales in the 2020 fiscal year amounted to 1.48 trillion Japanese yen (11.6 billion euros). The largest contribution to sales was made by aerospace systems (29.8% of the total), followed by the motorcycle engine division (21.1%) and systems for the energy sector (16%). The robotics and precision machinery component provided 12.6% of the group’s sales, and shipbuilding and offshore structures delivered 6.1% of the total.
The conference was organized by Energynomics and SmartiCity with the support of partners ABB, Bosch, EximBank, Geminox, Kawasaki Gas Turbine Europe, LAPP Romania, Novotrol, Phoenix Contact, REI Group, UP Romania, Wiren.
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Throughout the event, Novotrol representatives answered participants’ questions. Novotrol is Baker Hughes Group’s channel partner for the Turbomachinery and Process Solutions (T.P.S.) and Flow & Process Technologies (F.&P.T.) divisions for Romania. “Our story started in 1996 with F.&P.T. Masoneilan Control Valves and Consolidated Safety Valves division. 27 years later we are still with F&P.T. but also with the Nuovo Pignone division from T.P.S. and with Thermodyn, thus offering more complete and complex solutions such as gas turbines and compressors”, told us Andrei Paraschiv, Sale Engineer Novotrol.