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Press Release: EXTRA CARE SCHEMES IN DURHAM COMMISSION FIRST OF SIX MINI-CHP UNITS
(Published: 02/02/2004)
Baxi Technologies UK, the Baxi Group division responsible for developing sustainable energy systems and technologies, has commissioned two of the six DACHS mini-CHP (Combined Heat & Power) units being installed at Extra Care Schemes being built in the North East of England.

Owned by Durham County Council the properties are being built by Gleeson Construction Services Limited for the council and housing association Hanover Housing. The first two schemes to be completed are those located at Brandon and Spennymoor in County Durham, with the remaining four located at Ouston, Consett, Seaham and Barnard Castle. The commissioning of subsequent DACHS units will be phased over the forthcoming months.

Baxi Technologies’ DACHS mini-CHP units were selected by Newton Aycliffe based BES Consulting Engineers as part of a series of environmental sustainability measures introduced for the extra care schemes. The inclusion of CHP was a requirement of the brief produced by Durham County Council as part of their corporate environmental policy. Derek Griffiths, Managing Director of BES Consulting Engineers comments, “CHP is an extremely efficient way of producing usable heat and electricity simultaneously at the point of use, offering an alternative way of meeting thermal and electrical demands in many applications. The DACHS units supplied by Baxi Technologies UK were selected due to the potential reduction in CO₂ emissions, contributing to Durham County Council’s commitment to environmental sustainability. The outputs of the DACHS are a good match with the anticipated landlord’s electrical and thermal base loads maximising the utilisation of the units.”

Durham County Council’s extra care schemes were established in response to the changing expectations of older people in the Durham community. Developed in partnership with social landlord Hanover Housing, the schemes comprise either 36 or 45 self-contained flats and a wide range of on-site facilities, specifically designed for older and disabled people.

The DACHS units, producing 12kWth of heat and generating 5.5kWe of electricity, will act as the lead heating appliance at each of the extra care schemes, working alongside high efficiency condensing boilers. The electricity generated will be used predominantly for landlord load use, such as in the plant room, communal areas and for lighting.

In addition to high efficiency condensing boilers, the DACHS unit will also work alongside other alternatives to traditional heating solutions such as solar panels, used to partly serve the domestic hot water load. Rain water harvesting will also be adopted at the Brandon site.

Full metering will be installed at the Brandon site to monitor the performance of the DACHS unit. This will include an electricity meter, dedicated gas meter and heat metering package. All metering will be linked to the sites building management system for remote performance monitoring.

DACHS was developed by Baxi Group company SenerTec GmbH – Europe’s leading exponent of the use of internal combustion engine technology for CHP applications. SenerTec and its partner network have now installed over 8,000 units within Europe, predominantly in Germany, working as stand-alone heating and electricity generating solutions, as well as in tandem with existing and/or new hot water boilers.

National sales and marketing manager for Baxi Technologies UK, Yan Evans, commented, “The installation of DACHS units at these extra care schemes is an ideal application for this technology in the UK. Extra care schemes, residential homes for the elderly, and sheltered accommodation offer constant electrical and thermal demands that support continuous operation of mini-CHP units such as DACHS. The owners and operators of all such properties could benefit from the energy cost savings and environmental gains offered by DACHS.

Baxi Technologies UK is beginning to see a major change in the energy market, particularly with respect to CHP. Local authorities and housing associations are starting to consider environmental sustainability as a key project driver, and in some cases, on an equal footing with the financial benefits.

This is primarily due to CO₂ emission reduction targets imposed in accordance with Agenda 21 and the UK government’s commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. DACHS can reduce primary energy needs by around 30 per cent, significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions when compared to centralised power generation and conventional gas fired boiler plant.

DACHS mini-CHP units are already operating successfully in a number of properties in the UK, most of which are multi-tenanted accommodation served by centralised heating systems.