Combined heat and power (CHP) generates electricity and process heat simultaneously from a single fuel stream. By making the most of the heat released during electricity production, CHP installations achieve a higher energy efficiency than conventional systems.
Callens Group helps industrial companies make their energy supply more efficient, more sustainable, and more economically viable. Our specialists lead the entire process and develop a solution that suits your energy needs, production process, and sustainability goals perfectly.
Combined heat and power (CHP) produces electricity and heat at the same time from a single fuel stream. The heat released during electricity production is put to good use by an industrial steam boiler, a hot water installation, a thermal oil boiler, or another thermal application. This is how a CHP installation combines high energy efficiency with lower operating costs and a reduced environmental impact.
At the Callens Group, we always look at how to optimally align electricity and heat production and put both to good use in your production environment.
Key benefits of combined heat and power (CHP):
Higher overall efficiency: because both electricity and heat are used, CHP installations can achieve a considerably higher overall efficiency than the separate production of electricity and process heat.
Lower CO2 emissions: by using fuel more efficiently, primary energy consumption drops — and with it, your site’s CO2 emissions.
Cost-efficient electricity production: companies become less dependent on the public power grid and can produce part of their energy consumption on site.
Use of waste heat: the heat produced can be used for steam production, hot water, thermal oil, or other industrial applications.
Flexible energy management: the electricity generated can be used within your own production process, fed into the grid, or deployed for additional applications such as steam turbines.
Is combined heat and power the right choice for your company?
A CHP system should first and foremost be seen as an installation for heat production. After all, the heat it produces needs to be put to continuous, local use within the production process, a heat network, or other heat consumers on site. The electricity generated can then be consumed locally or fed into the grid.
That is why a CHP system gives you the greatest added value with a stable, sufficiently large heat demand for much of the year. The heat demand profile also plays an important role. An installation that can run at high efficiency for many hours will generally deliver a better economic and energy performance than one that has to start up, shut down, or run at part load frequently.
That is why our specialists always analyze the site’s complete energy profile, including heat consumption, electricity demand, operating hours, and growth plans. Based on that, we determine whether combined heat and power is a suitable solution and how the installation can best be integrated with existing heat and energy supplies.
Continuous demand for electricity and process heat
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Maximum use of both energy streams
High steam demand
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Heat from the CHP can be used directly for steam production
Continuous demand for hot water
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Ideal for heat networks and process heating
Large industrial production environment
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High operating hours significantly improve efficiency
Highly fluctuating heat demand
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Possible with buffering or a hybrid configuration
Availability of biogas or alternative fuels
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Increases sustainability and efficiency
Limited heat demand
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CHP efficiency is used less optimally
Only electricity is needed
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Other technologies are often more attractive
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With the Callens Group, you choose one partner who manages the entire journey, from design to maintenance. Our integrated approach combines technical expertise, hands-on project experience, and a strong service organization.
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How does combined heat and power contribute to a more sustainable energy supply?
By generating electricity and usable heat at the same time, a CHP installation gets more out of the same amount of fuel than the separate production of both energy forms would.
For companies with a continuous heat demand, this can lead to a significant reduction in energy consumption and operating costs. On top of that, local energy production offers extra control over the energy supply and less dependence on external suppliers.
The Callens Group designs and builds CHP installations tailored to the specific energy needs of industrial sites by considering technical efficiency, integration within existing processes, future expansion options, and the total lifecycle cost of the installation.
Besides natural gas, modern CHP installations can also run on biogas, biomethane, or other process gases. This allows companies to valorize local energy streams and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.
Technical feasibility depends on factors such as gas quality, availability, continuity of the fuel stream, and emission requirements.
CHP installations increasingly function as part of a broader energy system that also involves heat pumps, electric boilers, energy recovery, and renewable energy sources.
By combining these technologies intelligently, you create a flexible energy supply that responds to changing energy prices, fuel availability, and sustainability goals.
Combining CHP with other energy-efficient technologies
A CHP system delivers the highest efficiency when it is part of a smart, integrated energy system. That is why CHP installations are increasingly combined with other energy-efficient technologies, such as industrial heat pumps and e-boilers.
Industrial heat pumps make it possible to upgrade low-grade waste heat to usable process heat, while e-boilers produce heat flexibly when electricity is abundantly available or economically attractive. By controlling these technologies intelligently, the available energy is used to the fullest and the most efficient heat source can be deployed every time.
This integrated approach offers important benefits. Heat recovery is valorized to the maximum, fossil fuel consumption decreases, and CO2 emissions are reduced further. At the same time, you get a flexible energy system that responds better to fluctuating energy prices, changing grid capacity, and future sustainability goals.
Working with the Callens Group means peace of mind, reliability, and certainty
A CHP installation is an investment that lasts for decades. That is why you are best choosing a partner that delivers both the right solution and provides the service needed to guarantee lasting performance. You will find that combination at the Callens Group.
At the Callens Group, you have a single point of contact for your entire steam project: from the first analysis to installation, including service and maintenance. This keeps the process clear and reduces the need for separate coordination between different parties.
The Callens Group is not tied to a single brand, manufacturer or technology. This allows us to select the solution that is technically and economically the most attractive for each project. To do so, our engineers take account of energy prices, grid capacity, water quality, emission targets, available space and total cost of ownership to provide you with a solution that integrates perfectly into your production environment.
With more than 120 service and maintenance specialists, the Callens Group has one of the largest service teams. Preventive maintenance, interventions, remote monitoring and an extensive stock of spare parts ensure that your steam installation remains maximally available and that unplanned downtime is kept to a minimum.
The Department of Technology is the Callens Group’s innovation center. Here, new developments in heat technologies are assessed for their technical feasibility and their added value for industrial applications. Only proven technologies ultimately find their way to customers.
With 13 locations across Belgium, the Netherlands and France, we combine the benefits of an international group with the proximity of local teams. This allows us to act quickly.
Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, is an installation that simultaneously produces electricity and heat from a single fuel stream. The heat released during electricity production is not discharged as a loss but put to good use within the production process. As a result, a CHP system achieves a much higher energy efficiency than the separate production of electricity and heat.
A CHP installation usually consists of a gas engine or gas turbine that drives a generator to produce electricity. At the same time, the heat from the engine, turbine, and flue gases is recovered to produce steam, hot water, or other forms of process heat, making maximum use of the available energy.
A CHP system achieves a considerably higher overall efficiency than the separate production of electricity and heat. The heat released during electricity production is not lost but put to good use for industrial processes, steam production, hot water production, or building heating. As a result, a CHP installation can be up to 25 to 30 % more efficient than a conventional energy supply, with overall efficiencies reaching 85 to 95 %.
Today, CHP installations run mainly on natural gas, but they can also be fueled by biogas, biomethane, or other process gases. Depending on the application and the available energy streams, the Callens Group always recommends the most suitable fuel and configuration.
Support measures can shorten the payback period, but they are rarely the only factor that determines the profitability of a CHP installation. That mainly comes down to the ratio between the electricity price, the fuel cost, and the extent to which the heat and electricity produced can be used locally. Thanks to their high overall efficiency, CHP installations can lower energy costs considerably and pay for themselves quickly, certainly at companies with a continuous heat demand and plenty of operating hours.
In addition, a CHP installation can help companies become less dependent on the power grid. By producing part of their electricity themselves, they draw less from the grid. That can be an important advantage in regions where grid congestion makes it harder to expand production capacity or electrify—as is increasingly the case in Belgium and the Netherlands today.
Because a CHP installation produces both electricity and heat from the same fuel stream, it consumes less primary energy than their separate production would. This significantly reduces CO2 emissions. And when biogas or other renewable fuels are used, the climate impact can be lowered even further.
The heat from a CHP installation can be used for steam production, hot water installations, thermal oil, building heating, or other industrial applications. Depending on the process requirements, the installation can be fully tailored to the site’s heat demand.
Gas engines are often used for small to medium outputs and offer high flexibility under variable loads. Gas turbines are generally attractive for larger outputs and applications with a high, continuous demand for steam or process heat. The most suitable technology depends on the site’s energy profile, operating hours, and heat requirements.
For a malthouse in Germany, the Callens Group built a gas turbine–based combined heat and power plant with so-called “island mode” operation: when the public power grid goes down, the plant can keep running autonomously thanks to the CHP installation. In addition, surplus heat from the malting process was integrated into the energy concept, further boosting overall efficiency.
More info: https://www.callensvyncke.com/project/turbine-driven-chp-plant-in-germany-with-island-mode/
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