Fact sheet

November 2010

Trigeneration
-hat is the +r oblem.-hat ar e the bene,its.
The vast ma/ority o, $ ictoria0 s electricity The gr eatest advantage o, tri*generation su++ly curr ently comes ,r om large, is the incr ease in e, ,iciency com+ar ed to centralised br o"n coal +o"er +lants) This +r oducing heat, cooling and electricity ,orm o, generation only achieves ar ound individually ) 7dditional e, ,iciency is gained 2%1203 e, ,iciency ) 403 o, the energy,r om r educing electricity transmission in+ut is lost either thr ough "aste heatlosses) +r oduced during the +r ocess or ,r om T ri*generation is s+eci,ically bene,icial losses in the transmission o, electricity in over a variable climate, such as $ ictoria0 s, the large distances to the ,inal +oint o,"ith use) str ong heating demand in "inter alter nating "ith high cooling demand in summer ) - ith tri*generation, electricity su++ly T ri*generation is an e5tension o, and demand ar e lin#ed better , +ea# load cogeneration, adding cooling to electricity demand can be r educed and security o, generation and heat +r oduction) su++ly is enhanced due to an incr eased T ri*generation involves simultaneous number o, diverse electricity generation +r oduction o, heat, cooling and electricity alter) natives) Fuel is bur nt in an engine "hich drives a generator to +r oduce electricity ) The "aste heat ,r om the engine is used ,or s+ace, "ater or +r ocess heating, or can be converted to cold "ater ,or cooling Mor eland Energy Foundation thr ough the a++lication o, an absor+tion Sustainability 7dvice chiller ) Level 1, 233 Sydney d !runs"ic# The trigeneration conce+t can also be in,o9me )com)au used "ith solar +hotovoltaic cells) !y T ele+hone '3(% (%(& r emoving and storing the heat ,r om behind the 6$ +anels, the heat can be used "ith an absor+tion chiller , cooling do"n the home)

-hat is T ri*generation. T ri*generation involves the simultaneous +r oduction o, electricity , heat and cooling ,r om the one ,uel sour ce, gr eatly r educing Further in,ormation gr eenhouse gas emissions)

7bsor+tion chillers
7n absor+tion chiller is basically an air conditioner driven by a heat sour ce rather than electricity , utilising e5cess heat and converting it into cold "ater or cold air ) This is the same +r ocess as used in gas cam+ing ,ridges)

T ri*generation and distributed energy

T ri*generation lends itsel, to being situated close to "her e an electricity and heat or cooling demand e5ists, ca+turing and using the "aste heat) 7s a r esult, tri*generation is a ,orm o, 8distributed electricity generation0, involving many small generation sour ces distributed "ithin the electricity grid, as o++osed to ,e"er large, centralised +o"er +lants)

Moreland Energy Foundation Limited Level 1 , 233 Sydney oad !runs"ic# $ ictoria 30%& T 03 '3(% (%(% F 03 '3(% (%(& """ )me )com)au