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Energy & Renewables vocabulary · Power Generation and Power Plants

Combined heat and power

Meaning in energy & renewables, with examples

nounCommon term

In energy & renewables, combined heat and power means: Producing electricity and useful heat at the same time from one fuel, so that heat a normal power plant would waste is used in buildings or industry.

In Turkish: kojenerasyon, birleşik ısı ve güç üretimi

How it is used

Shortened to CHP and also called cogeneration. CHP plants are common in factories, hospitals, district heating systems and greenhouses. Overall efficiency can exceed 80 percent. When cooling is added, it is called trigeneration.

Example sentences

  1. The hospital's combined heat and power unit supplies electricity, hot water and steam.

  2. A combined heat and power plant makes sense when the site needs heat all year round.

Common collocations

  • CHP plant
  • combined heat and power unit
  • cogeneration
  • district heating
  • trigeneration
  • combined cycleA plant design in which a gas turbine generates electricity and its hot exhaust makes steam for a steam turbine, which generates more electricity from the same fuel.
  • energy efficiencyUsing less energy to do the same job, for example to heat a building, light a room or run a machine, thanks to better equipment, design or habits.
  • natural gasA fossil fuel made mostly of methane, burned in power plants, industry and homes. It emits less CO2 than coal for the same electricity, but it is still a fossil fuel.
  • biomassOrganic material from plants and animals, such as wood chips, crop residues and manure, that is burned or turned into gas or fuel to produce energy.

More terms: Power Generation and Power Plants

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