MEDIA BRIEF

Tri-generation How does it work?

Tri-generation is the simultaneous production of three forms of energy: electricity, heating and cooling. A trigeneration system can provide power, hot water, space heating and air conditioning from a single system. Generators lose heat as they create electricity. A tri-generation facility captures this heat that would otherwise be lost and uses it to generate both hot and cold water. The chilled water is created by an absorption chiller, which is generated by the excess heat and which operates like a refrigerator. It creates water at sufficiently low temperatures to be used for air conditioning. Efficiency Tri-generation facilities are efficient for two reasons: First, they avoid the losses associated with the transport of electricity. Second, they capture waste heat which is normally lost. Tri-generation facilities, like the one proposed at Frasers Broadway, can achieve overall energy efficiencies of 80-90%, compared to only 35% on average for conventional supply of electricity from the grid. Technology The Frasers Broadway tri-generation facility would use gas engines. These are a costeffective and mature technology. The co-generation demonstration projects, developed by the NSW Department of Planning for residential communities in Rouse Hill and Chatswood, use gas engines. Fuel The Frasers Broadway tri-generation facility would use natural gas which is the most commonly used fuel for tri-generation due to its relatively low cost, ease of transport (via pipeline), wide availability and low greenhouse intensity. Emissions Together with other sustainability initiatives (including design efficiency, smart metering and solar powered public spaces), tri-generation will result in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and Frasers Property is pro-actively investigating all available technologies and techniques to target 100% carbon neutrality. Reliability Tri-generation equipment has high reliability. Shutdowns for planned maintenance are required at regular intervals and unplanned shutdowns can also occur from time to time. The Frasers back-up system will involve a combination of options, including emergency load shedding (using smart metering, direct load control and appropriate tariffs), grid backup, dual-fuel generators (which can run on stored diesel if gas is interrupted), gas storage, backup diesel generators, batteries and hot and chilled water storage. Demand Frasers Broadway may have the additional capacity to export surplus energy back to the power grid, reducing Sydney-wide demand on infrastructure. Noise The Frasers facility will be well soundproofed. As a result, noise and vibration are not issues for well-designed tri-generation facilities.

Prepared by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney, April 2008