Before Gl. Rye CHP-plant expanded the heat producing capacity in 2015, the entire heat demand was covered by natural gas fired engines, a natural gas fired boiler and a steel tank for accumulation of hot water. This system was expanded, by the following:
- 2,400 m2 solar thermal collectors
- 2 MW (heating) heat pump, cooling groundwater from 9°C to 2°C
The new system setup makes Gl. Rye CHP an electricity consumer and -producer at the same time. When electricity prices are low, the heat pump produces heat, and when electricity prices are high, the engines are used. The system setup makes it possible for Gl. Rye CHP to react on the volatile electricity prices that vary, according to the available share of wind power in the system. This makes Gl. Rye very flexible in terms of technology choice for coverage of the heat demand, while being robust against fluctuations in energy prices.
The project cut the plant’s natural gas demand by 80 % and made it possible to reduce the district heating price by approx. 400 €/year for a standard consumer.
The total project costs were approx. 2,200,000 € and received funding of approx. 450,000 € by the development programme of the Danish Energy Agency, EUDP. PlanEnergi was projectleader on the EUDP-project.