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NETWORK / 25 / MARCH 2020 boilers. So what about existing commercial boilers? Retro tting existing gas-powered commercial boilers with CHP will help save energy and costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process. Here's an example: A factory had an annual on-site gas usage of • , kWh, using thermal heat and annual electricity of •‚‚, kWh. The integration of a natural gas fuelled „ kWe CHP unit into the existing hydraulic circuit was expected to contribute annual fuel cost savings of circa £†‡,„ˆ‰, plus CO2 savings of over Œ‰Ž, ‚Œkg. The CHP was expected to generate ‚†% of the site's thermal demand by producing a constant thermal load of Œ ‚ kWth throughout the working day, keeping the boilers o' -line for most of the year whilst generating at least Ž„% of the onsite electricity demand. This was only an evaluation exercise, but based on current tari' s a return on investment would be achieved within ˆ‰ months, clearly proving that an on-site cogenerating CHP would help to reduce site costs against current grid charges and o' er ongoing reduced operating costs. New construction and carbon legislation compliance Carbon legislation compliance in construction is greatly helped by CHP systems thanks to the systems' energy savings and environmental bene ts. CHP systems help businesses to meet the CRC Energy E" ciency Scheme targets. And in new buildings in the industrial, commercial, agricultural and public service sectors, CHP can help to avoid the Climate Change Levy, which applies to electricity, gas and solid fuel consumption. Energy security aspects CHP systems help to reduce transmission losses from the grid by providing a regular and consistent supply of energy at or near to source. In some applications they can operate entirely o' -grid or supplement larger energy demands. This provides exceptional energy security. CHP is a recognised, sustainable way of generating electricity which can be sold back to the National Grid or used within a private wire network to supply homes and businesses. CHP used in community energy schemes can assist with planning applications and consent, as well as assisting to meet regional carbon emission targets and support energy reduction strategies. Optimising fuel use CHP systems are particularly suitable for sites where there is a need for heating and hot water systems, and in industries that are synonymous with high energy demand. CHP has proved to be incredibly e' ective in reducing this demand signi cantly. Prime sites are, for example, leisure centres and spas, hotels, schools, colleges and universities, oil companies, hospitals and assisted living facilities, as well as residential properties with single point energy centres. The same sites o™ en experience load surges at peak times. Correctly sized CHP units with supporting thermal stores can comfortably deal with these spikes in consumption without sacri cing performance in any way. CHP systems can be retro tted without disrupting to day-to-day operations or the need to drastically modify existing hydraulic services. Businesses are under constant pressure to improve performance while reducing costs. CHP systems t this brief perfectly – they o' er signi cant cost savings while improving performance, reducing running costs and enhancing energy security. Cogenerated Combined Heat and Power enables today's businesses to play their part in achieving the UK's zero carbon commitment. Joseph Melone, knowledge exchange associate at the University of Strathclyde's Power Network Demonstration Centre (PNDC), discusses their readiness to support the exploration of the Internet-of-Things. In the last ten years, there has been a technical revolution, due to the rise of smartphones and widely inter-connected devices, broadly defi ned as the Internet-Of-Things (IoT) - creating incredible potential for business growth and solving diffi cult technical challenges. How does this affect the energy sector? By making possible new platforms (including hardware, software, services) which automate tasks and make assets visible on crucial national infrastructure. Making power distribution infrastructure visible opens many opportunities for integration of assets for centralised control, the inclusion of electric vehicles as network storage and loads, increases the potential for fl exible operation such as distributed generation, asset inspection and condition- monitoring augmented by machine learning and artifi cial intelligence. Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are aware of these potential benefi ts and are currently working with a wide range of partners to not only drive the costs down but to integrate these assets and data in secure and accessible ways to deploy IoT solutions as business as usual. PNDC has an ongoing research programme collaborating with DNOs and various companies operating in the IoT sector. Our compact test distribution network, industry-standard SCADA control and full spectrum of assets that could be monitored or controlled in the future, allows PNDC to be a central facilitator in testing communications methods, network-enabled sensors, data collection, analytics and integration. PNDC's industry-focused research has already resulted in key breakthroughs, including the development of an open- source software and hardware platform to investigate edge- processing of LV distribution network sensor information. In the future we will work with industry partners to benchmark existing commercial offerings for how they would integrate with existing DNO strategies. By combining collaborative research with an ideal test-bed and key expertise, we are perfectly suited to exploring the vast potential of Industrial IoT. Get involved at pndc.co.uk A C C E L E R AT E I O T O P P O RT U N I T I E S Joseph Melone, knowledge exchange associate, University of Strathclyde DECARBONISATION OF HEAT