Feature

Space-saving panel design delivers sustainable CHP solution

Using energy-efficient CHP (combined heat and power) technologies not only helps businesses reduce their environmental impact, but also delivers significant cost benefits. By capturing heat through the electricity generation process to produce heat and power simultaneously, CHP can cut energy costs by up to 40 percent. Bensons Control Panels used its expertise in this area to deliver control panels for energy and services company, Centrica.

01/08/2024 10:36:09

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With over 5,000 business customers across 34 countries, Centrica helps organisations improve their operational efficiency and meet their sustainability goals. A large part of Centrica’s business is focused on delivering energy-efficient CHP technologies.

The challenge
Centrica called
upon Bensons Panels to develop a new style of containerised CHP solution. The difficulty lay in the fact that the configuration and size of the engine imposed significant space constraints within the standard-sized containers required by Centrica.

At the same time, Centrica required all the functionality of a conventional control panel, together with the high-current switching capacity of a large air circuit breaker (ACB). A conventional system would feature a traditional wardrobe panel within a
container, installed alongside their system’s engine, to create a fully integrated plant room assembly.

This would then be delivered to the client’s site, ready to be incorporated into the main energy plant. As the panel plant room
within the container was not long or wide enough to house the control panel in one straight line, the challenge for Bensons Panels was to create a bespoke design to solve the space restrictions.

Read the full article in DPA's August 2024 issue

Written By Sophia Bell

Sophia Bell is the Group Editor of DPA, Connectivity, and PBSI. She joined the team in 2020 as Assistant Editor after achieving a First-Class Honours BA in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. In her current role, she leads the editorial strategy, driving digital growth and ensuring each title continues to deliver trusted, relevant insight for engineering and manufacturing professionals.