Combined Cooling Heat & Power (CCHP)

CHP can be incorporated into a ‘tri-generation’ scheme , as opposed to cogeneration, to provide cooling alongside heat and power from the same energy source. Here excess heat produced is cooled by absorption chillers linked to the CHP system. This provides chilled water for cooling to be circulated around a building or community. This is particularly useful for schemes that require a large amount of air conditioning. This is also known as combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP).

Profile: MediaCityUK

MediaCityUK is a £500 million project being developed and delivered by the Peel Group at Salford Quay in Manchester. The 37 acre waterfront site being built in phase one of the development will provide a new home for BBC North, as well as an education centre for Salford University. It will also offer commercial and retail space along with seven state of the art studios. A hotel and residential accommodation will also sit around a piazza twice the size of Trafalgar Square.

Cofely, a leading energy and environmental efficiency services company owned by GDF SUEZ, was commissioned to design, build and operate a CHP tri-generation scheme to meet the energy needs of the flagship development. Construction began in summer 2007and phase one of the site will be fully operational by 2011.

Electrical power used in the scheme is produced by a CHP engine using natural gas while the heat generated, lost in a conventional system, is recovered as hot water. This is then circulated around the MediaCityUK complex through a hidden network of pipes. Surplus heat is also used to chill water, providing a cooling service to buildings.

Provision of cooling alongside heat and power, ensures the development is able to maximise the benefit of the low-carbon energy provided across MediaCity throughout the year. It also extends the environmental benefit of the scheme, displacing the need for separate air-conditioning, in turn reducing overall CO2.

The installation of the CHP energy centre will result in a saving of £560,000 each year in energy costs. It also delivers a minimum 29% saving in CO2 emissions when compared to supplying the power, heat and cooling through conventional separate sources.

An elevated view of MediaCityUKas it will look in 2011 for web.