OS Gen on-site generation solutions
Technology Choices
We help you assess and select which technology or technologies deliver the best solution outcome that matches your businesses energy consumption requirements, carbon footprint goals and investment philosophy.
CHP
Combined Heat & Power (CHP) is a gas fuelled reciprocating piston engine, . The CHP engine drives an alternator to generate electricity.
The heat from the CHP engine is then recovered and made available as hot water or steam. This gives efficiencies of over 80% from the use of the fuel consumed, and provides very low cost power and heat energy to the client compared with electricity from the grid and boiler systems. CHPs provide baseload energy to the site and will typically deliver over 80% of the site consumption if sized correctly.
CHPs can be driven by different fuel types including: natural gas, biogas, LPG and increasingly Hydrogen.
Benefits of CHPs include:
Reduce heat and electricity bills
Reduce carbon footprint and CO2 emissions
Extended life of existing plant due to reduced running hours
Savings on government levies and taxes such as CCL, Triad charges etc.
Lower carbon footprint for electricity and heat generated
Can be integrated with other technologies including Solar, Heat pumps, Battery storage
Reduce heat and electricity bills
Reduce carbon footprint and CO2 emissions
Extended life of existing plant due to reduced running hours
Savings on government levies and taxes such as CCL, Triad charges etc.
Lower carbon footprint for electricity and heat generated
Can be integrated with other technologies including Solar, Heat pumps, Battery storage
OS Gen provide solutions from 30kW – 1MW
Generator
Generators provide electricity to sites where the demand is constant with long operating hours. These units are highly efficient electrically and are used to provide baseload power with peak demand delivered by the grid.
The core engine technology is similar to CHPs but without the heat recovery systems.
OS Gen provide solutions from 250kW – 1MW.
Reduce your carbon footprint & save money on your business energy today.
Solar
Solar technology demand has increased substantially, driven by declining costs, increased affordability, improvements to solar panel durability, low carbon and sustainability goals and the increasing cost of energy.
While Solar benefits are proven, they are not ideal for providing the baseload energy that most businesses require.
OS Gen work with select Solar partners to install integrated solutions that benefit from renewable technologies alongside more efficient and constant energy generation technologies including CHPs and Generators.”
Battery Storage
Energy storage systems are an efficient approach to peaks and troughs in energy demand, storing at times of surplus and releasing at times of deficit; helping to drive energy-efficiency.
Energy storage technologies, including on-site generation and storage on individual client sites, may be deployed as stand-alone systems or integrated with power generation from renewables and baseload technologies including CHPs and Generators.
Battery storage plays multiple roles in managing electricity supply and demand and saving on electricity costs and has become an essential consideration in providing Energy Resilience.
OS Gen work with several Battery Storage partners to create solutions that combine multiple generation technologies and sophisticated energy management solutions for their energy needs
EV Charging
With the growth in Electric Vehicles, both business and consumer, organisations need to consider the role of EV chargers for their business.
In certain industries and depending on the EV charger size businesses could be doubling their electricity demand for the site. This poses challenges on grid capacity and distribution infrastructure with significant upgrade costs being passed onto the client by network providers.
OS Gen works with its customers to assess their clients total energy needs and the technical capacity of the infrastructure to provide this increase in energy demand.
Increasingly, solutions that incorporate on-site generation technologies including solar and baseload generation including CHPs, generators and battery storage alleviate some of the constraints that limit the installation of EV chargers.
Micro Wind Turbine
OS Gen do not currently offer micro-wind turbine solutions in our portfolio of products but will collaborate with clients where the need to integrate with other renewable and baseload technologies such as Solar, CHPs and Generators are required.
Fuel Options
Planning and selecting the appropriate fuel source for on-site generation technologies should be built around three considerations:
- Price per kW of energy produced
- Carbon footprint of the complete fuel production, distribution and consumption supply chain
- Global & UK energy policy implementation timescales
Natural gas
Natural gas fuelled engines are the most commonly used. The price per kW output compared with other forms including Biofuels and Hydrogen is still cheaper especially when production and distribution costs are factored in.
The drawback in the pursuit of Net Zero is the carbon content per kg compared with others.
At Os Gen we consider natural gas to be a transition fuel and work with our clients to create an affordable roadmap to transition away from natural gas and towards more sustainable fuels options in timescales that are balanced by affordability, public opinion and Government Policy.
Biofuels
Fuels that have been extracted from plants and crops are known as biofuels. Of these, the most commonly extracted and used one is Bioethanol or simply Ethanol and Biodiesel. Plant-based fuels come from renewable sources, can be grown anywhere and have lower carbon emissions as compared to fossil fuels.
As a fuel source for CHPs and Generators Biofuels are a competitive alternative to petrol and diesel but fall someway short of natural gas fuelled engines.
The advantage is a significantly lower carbon footprint to natural gas.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is a fuel which is well suited as an existing and future fuel for gas engines, either directly or blended with other gases.
The UK Government has committed in its 2021 Net Zero strategy to transition towards more Hydrogen capacity in the UK with 5GW the target by 2030.
OS Gen supports this strategy with its existing natural gas fleet able to take the proposed 20% blended hydrogen and natural gas mix in our engines. Fully enabled Hydrogen engines are planned for 2026.
Contact OS Gen today
Save money, carbon footprint and efficiency on your business energy today.