CHP benefits businesses with a consistent electricity and heat demand, particularly if operations requires a continuous need for steam, hot water, or cooling. Farms, the industrial sector, hospitals, commercial buildings, and local government facilities frequently benefit from the adoption of CHP to make energy and heating more efficient and cost effective.

Around 50% of your electricity bill pays for taxes, levies and getting the electricity to you. By generating your own electricity using CHP you can avoid paying these costs by drastically reducing or even eliminating the need to import electricity from the grid.

What's more, businesses operating CHP with a Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance certificate benefit through substantial tax savings from paying less Climate Change Levy (CCL) on the gas used and on the electricity generated.

CHP is a much more efficient source of power and heat compared to electricity alone.

For every 1kWh of gas burnt, a modern CHP engine produces around:

• 0.4kWh of electricity
• 0.45kWh of hot water

So an overall efficiency of 85%.

Compare this to electricity from a traditional power station that might produce 0.4kWh of electricity for each 1kWh of fuel burnt (40% efficiency), where left-over heat is typically left unused.

There are a number of environmental benefits to having a CHP system.

If run with biomass or biogas as carbon neutral applications, CHPs can help reduce CO2 emissions. By providing a consistent supply of power close to the source of use, CHP systems also reduce energy loss from the grid and improve the energy efficiency on the site where it's used, reducing the reliance on externally produced energy sources.

A CHP system can also be a potential income generator for business. Not only do you get reduced energy costs but depending on its set up, it can also generate revenue through the sale of excess electricity and heat. What's not used on site in terms of excess heat can be sold on to other, nearby businesses, whereas excess electricity can be sold to the power grid.