The Solihull based company oversees the development, management and operation of the UK’s largest portfolio of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants.

CHP plants combine electricity generation and heat production to deliver significant efficiency and cost benefits to industrial customers including those from the oil, paper and chemical sectors. CHP technology also delivers environmental benefits through lower carbon dioxide emissions.

While many people are now waking up to the realisation that we need to reduce our carbon intensity, npower Cogen has already helped reduce the UK’s CO2 emissions by over 6 million tons.

npower Cogen supplies 1500 MW of heat to UK industry making it one of the leading heat suppliers in the UK, and is seeking further diversification into alternative fuels such as biomass.

As the government and energy suppliers look at ways of meeting the UK’s growing energy requirements whilst at the same time reducing carbon emissions, CHP is increasingly viewed as a highly efficient means of generating energy. According to a recent report by Poyry Energy Consulting for Greenpeace, the energy produced by CHP plants could be more than tripled in the UK, thereby making a significant contribution to European sustainable energy goals. Currently, CHP accounts for nearly eight per cent of all of the electricity generated in the UK.

Phil Piddington, Head of npower Cogen, commented: “We have been growing this part of the business from our West Midlands base for 15 years and our operations across the UK demonstrate how we can partner with industry to meet its energy needs on a long-term basis. Right now the growth potential in this market is huge. The past few months have seen an exciting level of investment into CHP, including our plans to build a biomass CHP plant at Tullis Russell Papermakers in Scotland. We believe projects like this can and will be replicated successfully elsewhere.

All of our sites form an important part of our commitment to invest in lower or zero carbon power generation sources. In this way, npower Cogen supports both UK and EU initiatives to invest in renewable energy sources, increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. CHP technology is key to the reduction of our own carbon intensity and we believe that through wider adoption there is significant scope to improve the UK’s energy efficiency even further.”

At present, there is nearly 5500MWe of CHP capacity in the country, of which npower Cogen has invested in over 500MWe. Cogen customers include Dow Corning in Barry, Wales, Aylesford Newsprint in Kent and Millennium Chemicals in Grimsby.

*CO2 savings calculated by comparing combined heat and power with conventional power generation using a mixture of coal and gas.

ENDS

For further information please contact the RWE npower press office on 0845 070 2807 or Jennifer Crawford on 07989 493 350