Page 15 - Piston Engine-Based Power Plants

8 Piston Engine-Based Power Plants

globally. The range of stationary applications of this type includes
base-load power plants based on large, low-speed diesel engines and
upon medium- and low-speed gas engines. A large number of both die-
sel and gas engines are used for distributed generation where they sup-
ply base load and peak power directly to consumers. Similar systems
are frequently used to supply power to consumers that are not con-
nected to the grid. In recent years a range of hybrid systems that
employ a mix of renewable energy, usually from wind or solar genera-
tors, energy storage and reciprocating engines have become popular in
both distributed generation and remote power applications.

Another important use for engines is in backup power systems.
Reciprocating engines are simple stand-alone generating systems that
can be easily and quickly started and this makes them popular for
both high-security backup systems where energy must be available at
all times and as less critical commercial backup systems where their
low price makes them attractive. More recently these backup genera-
tors have increasingly been used for peak power too, providing the
owner with power during periods when electricity demand peaks and
the cost of electricity rises. This may be coupled with grid demand-side
management where some consumers agree to allow their grid supply to
be interrupted during high peak periods in return for a lower cost of
electricity. An engine-based generating system can bridge the gap in
supply.
On the other side of this equation, reciprocating engines usually
burning natural gas are finding increasing application for grid power
where they are used to support renewable generation. These engines
can provide relatively clean power and have the ability to increase or
decrease output quickly in response to the amount of wind or solar
energy available.

A final, important market for reciprocating engines is in combined
heat and power plants. These are usually small-scale installations in
which the engine provides electric power while waste heat is captured
and used for space heating or to provide hot water. However there are
also large applications in which the heat energy captured is used for
industrial processes.

In order to quantify the size of this market and provide some indi-
cation of the number and overall installed capacity of reciprocating