Small Scale Power Generation
Viable small scale bioenergy with dual fuels
We hear and read people mistakenly stating that bioenergy in Australian must be large to be cost effective. At Inoplex, we have focused on smaller scale bioenergy for CHP Generators at a scale for primary producers, food processors, aquatic centres, aged care facilities, and wastewater treatment. Our units are cost-effective producing power and heating for less than the cost of grid power.
Efficient Cogen Generators for all your electrical needs
The Inoplex Cogen Generators can run at a wide range of speeds efficiently
to produce the electricity that you need.
Of course, large facilities with megawatt scale generation will provide a lower cost per KW than smaller scale units, however, our primary producers and food processor customers can realise great efficiency with 30 plus % ROI’s with much smaller projects. Well designed bioenergy cogeneration projects can provide economic and environmental returns down to 50 KW.
Inoplex focus on smaller scale applications
Inoplex design and manufacture Australian built biogas CHP generators for bioenergy projects which are available at 30, 50, 66, and 120 KW. We have installed multiple 50 KW units in several piggery sites as they had sufficient biogas to power up more generators. Our generators multi-pack really easily and additional CHPs can be added as clients business grows.
If you are considering a smaller scale bioenergy project, our CHP hardware is designed to cut the cost of approvals, reducing installation and commissioning costs for smaller facilities.
Our design engineers have worked creatively, stretching the inverter CHP Generator design to make its installation, commissioning, and operation simple. We’ve installed many embedded power generators and had these approved by power and gas utilities. Our team studied these processes and re-worked the product design to streamline their compatibility with the approval processes.
We have deliberately crafted our bioenergy CHP generators to be easy and low cost to approve. This product strength is designed to make bioenergy viable at a much smaller scale than has been previously considered viable or economic.
Supplement bioenergy
If your bioenergy project does not provide sufficient fuel to meet your site’s demands, then you can utilise the ‘dual fuel’ feature included in the CHP generators and mix fuels.
As an Australian biogas engine manufacturer, we’ve seen many smaller projects, such as dairy farms, where there was insufficient biogas available from the anaerobic digestion of cow manure but the farm owner needed heat and power for the milking and chilling operation. The easy answer in this situation is to dual fuel a combination of biogas, topped up with LPG or propane if natural gas/methane is not available.
Our engine control unit is set up to dual fuel as standard as it’s a common requirement for landfill biogas. This automatically tops up the bioenergy to meet your full demands and while natural gas and LPG are not renewable fuels, embedded generation eliminates the power losses through the power grid which results in lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Another ‘dual bioenergy fuel’ option is biogas paired with biodiesel as a fuel. The biogas can be produced from the anaerobic digestion of animal manure as well as wastes from the biodiesel production, while the biodiesel can be produced by growing canola on the farm. This more elaborate approach eliminates the use of fossil fuels altogether, creating a true bioenergy project. We have this project at 50 KW, a small scale renewable.
Solar addition
Solar power generation is achieved using a solar PV system combined with battery storage which ensures the operation has power when the sun is not shining. These systems are currently relatively expensive and economically challenged in larger industrial scale applications.
Another way to create a smaller scale renewable bioenergy project more viable is to share the assets. Don’t think of a solar power system and a CHP generator as two separate systems. They can be combined for a better project. A solar PV inverter not producing power during the night is not working very hard for you, so combine the assets and ‘sweat them’ to make the best use of both systems.
Our Australian designed and built inverter generators can accept DC power from a PV system and seamlessly integrate this with the DC produced by our CHP engine to produce grid synchronised power with both energy sources. This way, your assets are working as much as you need them. If it is sunny and your PV solar is producing the power you need, then the engine generator will wind back. Similarly, if the sun is down but you still need heat and power, the CHP engine generator will run harder to still ensure your energy needs are met.
Viable bioenergy solutions
We’ve successfully delivered small scale bioenergy projects down to 50 KW. Renewable’s do not need to be large megawatt projects and primary producers and food processors can easily benefit at this scale.
Our strategies for making small scale bioenergy projects viable include:
- Using equipment deliberately focused on being economic at this scale.
- Supplementing biogas with other fuels.
- Combining solar with our Inoplex CHP inverter generator to maximise the return from your investment.