COGEN Europe Press Release – COGEN Europe warns that current problems facing the CHP sector demand firm implementation of EED
PRESS RELEASE
03 April 2013
A new snapshot survey of cogeneration shows a growth in the smaller CHP installations in many EU Member States but also reveals the degree to which the sector is under pressure from the combined effect of the economic crisis, electricity market issues, and on-going fuel price fluctuations. Dr Fiona Riddoch, Managing Director of COGEN Europe, commented ahead of publication that “the outlook for CHP is very Member State specific. There has been a growth in the number of small installations over the past 5 years but the current combination of market conditions is hitting CHP particularly hard across all sectors”.
Today 12% of Europe’s electricity and 15% of its heat are supplied in cogeneration mode, providing a minimum of 35 Mtoe of energy savings to Europe annually[1].The current economic slowdown reducing electricity demand, combined with global fuel price fluctuations and the ongoing lack of consideration for the heat output of cogenerators in their electricity market participation, have drawn highly efficient gas-fired CHP plants to experience serious cuts in profitability at many periods of the day. The cogenerator has to follow both the heat customer and the electricity customer, giving them a different business model to traditional electricity only suppliers.
The survey also sheds light on some positive market developments in countries where decentralised production of energy, local use of bio-energy and self-consumption of electricity are promoted.
Member States are currently implementing the new Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which requires more openness and an improved status for cogenerators in the electricity sector. It also makes provisions for new service markets within the electricity market where CHP can compete well. Dr. Csaba Kiss, Head of COGEN Hungary, who will present findings of the survey, commented that “post-crisis Europe will need the cogeneration’s energy efficiency contributions for productivity, energy savings and growth. Member States must implement the EED ambitiously. Post economic downturn, the predictability, reliability and efficiency of CHP make it an important part of the new energy networks”.
The 2013 Snapshot Survey of the Cogeneration sector in Europe[2] will be presented at the 20th COGEN Europe Annual Conference & Dinner, the largest CHP conference in Europe to take place in Brussels on 18 and 19 April.
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[1] Compared to the alternative separate production of heat and electricity.
[2] The 2013 snapshot surveyed CHP experts from 15 countries covering 70 % of the CHP market. In addition to the 2013 survey snapshot, COGEN Europe regularly publishes CHP policy and market country reports known as the ‘European Cogeneration Review’. The latest reports on the UK, the Netherlands and Germany are available for sale on www.cogeneurope.eu
