Flexible power generation combined with efficient heat

Efficient heat recovery solutions

Combined power generation and heat recovery power plant

Wärtsilä’s combined power generation and heat recovery plant offering comprises solutions for combined heat and power (CHP) including dynamic district heating (DDH), district cooling and power (DCAP) and trigeneration for applications that require both heating and cooling.

These fuel-efficient plants help to reduce carbon emissions and increase profitability by using waste heat streams from reciprocating internal combustion engines. Wärtsilä’s solutions enable power, heat and cooling generation closer to consumers, significantly reducing transmission and distribution losses.

The modular design of Wärtsilä CHP plants ensures efficiency over a wide load range and enables on-site maintenance without production downtime. Plants can be complemented with Wärtsilä lifecycle solutions to ensure optimal efficiency and performance throughout their lifetime.

Graph of typical CO emissions for different power plants

By utilising the waste heat streams from the engine, the power plant can reach an efficiency of 90% and reduce CO2 emissions by 35% compared to electric power only.

Key benefits of Wärtsilä heat recovery power plants 

Cost efficient operation with a small CO2 footprint.                               

  • Distributed electrical and thermal power production close to consumers, reducing transmission losses and distribution times.
  • High efficiency compared to separate power and heat generation.
  • Multi-unit design maintains efficiency across a wide load range.


Quick reaction to electricity price variations and changes in power, heating and cooling demands.

  • Flexible operation with multiple units and fast startup and ramp-up rates.
  • Flexibility can be further improved with heat storage.

Reliable power available at all times.                                                        

  • Lifecycle solutions ensure optimal efficiency and performance throughout the plant lifecycle.
  • Multi-unit design enables on-site maintenance without production downtime.

Tailored heat recovery

Heat recovery products can be hot water, steam, thermal oil, chilled water or even a combination of these. Each heat recovery system is tailored according to your specific needs and does not affect the electrical output or the electrical efficiency of the engine.

Generating electrical and thermal power close to where it is consumed reduces transmission and distribution losses. This approach can cut fuel consumption by more than 30% compared to centralised power production with long transmission distances.

The heat recovery power plant can be built over two floors to save space, with the generating set and auxiliaries on the ground floor and the ventilation, exhaust gas heat recovery and emission reduction equipment on the second floor.

The modular plant concept provides high plant efficiency at all loads. During periods of low demand, selected gensets can be powered down for maintenance or to save fuel, while the plant continues to run at peak efficiency.

During peak demand periods the plant can quickly ramp-up to 100% electrical output in just two minutes, making it ideal for complementing power production from renewable sources like wind and solar.

Heat recovery power plant solution

Energy-efficient CHP solutions for industry and homes

A Wärtsilä CHP plant can achieve over 90% efficiency, with the most common heat products being hot water and steam. This makes it ideal for both industrial and district heating applications. The automation system controls all internal processes and is fully integrated with all the necessary signals and connections to guarantee compatibility with external systems.

Process steam for industrial applications can be generated with engine exhaust energy, with or without additional hot water recovery from the engine cooling circuits.

Combined heat and power solutions for various needs

Dynamic district heating solutions for cold climates

Wärtsilä’s Dynamic District Heating (DDH) concept combines Wärtsilä’s flexible, efficient engine technology with a tailored and optimised CHP process. DDH plants are capable of high efficiency and flexible operation over a broad range of loads, making them highly responsive to variations in heat demand and fluctuations in electricity prices.

The concept capitalises on variations in power prices and heat demand to maximise the value of heat and power generation. Engines run during peak hours, feeding heat to the district heating network or to an integrated thermal storage tank. These tanks decouple heat supply from electricity supply.

A DDH plant is a multi-unit CHP plant that includes engines, boilers and hot water circulation pump modules.

Fuel-efficient district cooling solutions for warm climates

Wärtsilä’s District Cooling and Power (DCAP) system has been developed to generate power and chilled water for district cooling and air conditioning in warm climates. Fuel savings of more than 30% can be achieved compared to conventional centralised power plants producing electricity to power rooftop compressor cooling plants.

The DCAP system uses absorption chillers to recover heat energy from the engines during electricity generation. The most cost-efficient solutions use electric driven chillers and/or chilled water storage to cover demand peaks. This minimises investment in chiller capacity.

If the chilled water is not required immediately the plant can run in pure electricity generation mode or charge the chilled water storage to avoid wasted capacity.

Power, heating and cooling in one plant with trigeneration

Wärtsilä’s trigeneration concept brings together electricity, heating and cooling generation in one power plant without compromising reliability or flexibility. While generating electricity, absorption chiller technology is used to generate cooling energy from the exhaust gas and engine waste heat.

When the cooling demand decreases, engine waste heat is typically captured to cover the heat demand.

 

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Read more about flexible power generation combined with heat recovery.

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Our heat recovery power plant products

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Power
Fuel type

References

  • Bremen, Germany

    Wärtsilä and Uniper enable a revenue-adding transition from coal to gas for public utility swb Erzeugung in Bremen, Germany. When delivered in mid-2022, the flexible CHP power plant will decrease swb’s CO2 emissions by up to 75%.

    Read more
    Bremen, Germany
  • DREWAG, Germany

    Wärtsilä’s state-of-the-art gas engine technology will provide flexibility and black start capability to DREWAG, the local utility company in Dresden, Germany. The combined heat and power (CHP) engine power plant will be the only power plant that can restart the Dresden grid in case of a power blackout.

    Read more
    DREWAG_ (1920 x 690 px)
  • Kraftwerke Mainz-Wiesbaden AG

    Flexible combined heat and power plant (CHP) in Germany –enabling KMW AG to operate profitably in the increasingly volatile power market and provide climate-friendly district heating to the community.

    Read more
    Thumbnail of KMW

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