The intelligent energy system of ZEAG Energie AG will supply heat and electricity to 227 residential units with around 600 residents in the new “Neckarlust” development area in Gemmrigheim near Heilbronn.
Our contribution to the project is our superimposed and easily configurableenergy station controller SE²MASTER, that connects to the existingheat control system SE²OPERATOR of ZEAG Energie AG from AVAT and to all the smart heat substation controllers SE²BASE with direct storage link. Our intelligent solutions for decentralized energy systems bring SMART ENERGY to the new district and another highly efficient and future-oriented energy center for ZEAG Energie AG.
The natural gas cogeneration plant built for decentralized supply (81% heat demand coverage), with a capacity of 207 kWth/140 kWel and an overall efficiency of 93.4%, was supplemented by two gas condensing boilers with a total of 1.1 MW (19% heat demand coverage). For a better overall utilization of the energy center, three buffer storage tanks with a capacity of 3 m³ each as well as 25 decentralized heat storage tanks with 800 l each are also installed and directly connected to the smart transfer controllers from AVAT. This results in a storage volume of 30 m3 for the entire local heating network. Conventional transfer stations in the cellars are not used for the distribution of heat to the properties - hot water is heated directly in the apartments by instantaneous water heaters. The electrical energy generated by the CHP, about 0.8 million kWh per year, is currently fed directly into the grid at a rate of 91%.
This is a smart move because the higher-level energy station controller SE²MASTER will enable ZEAG Energie AG to make the system so flexible that it can be operated in a Virtual Power Plant SE²DIRECTOR in the future, thus enabling even more economical operation at the electricity exchange price. Another highlight of the residential area is the tenant electricity model. Around 40 residential units and five apartment buildings need approx. 0.1 million kWh of electricity, which they currently receive directly from the CHP.
The implemented solution with combined heat and power generation and storage management ensures an overall efficiency of over 93%. With a CHP unit and local heating network, this is leads to a very low primary energy factor of 0.46. As a result, an annual CO2 reduction of around 250 tons is achieved for our environment.
The Energie & Management magazine chose the plant as the "CHP of the month" in issue 04/2018.
More information can be found on the website of ZEAG Energie AG in Heilbronn: here (German language only)
