More support building for fuel cell micro-CHP in Scotland....

More support building for fuel cell micro-CHP in Scotland.



Industry group meets with Fergus Ewing to discuss strategic role of micro-CHP in Scotland

Post Date: 28 October 2013

Micro-CHP industry stakeholders - Calor Gas, Ceramic Fuel Cells, Flow Energy and Viessmann – recently met with the Scottish minister for energy, enterprise and tourism, Fergus Ewing, in Edinburgh to discuss the potential of diverse micro-CHP technologies in Scotland. On the same day, the group also met with Iain Gray, Labour shadow secretary for finance, employment and sustainable growth, and representatives of Scottish Enterprise.

At both meetings the industry showed that micro-CHP has a significant role to play towards meeting Scotland’s policy objectives while making efficient use of its ample resource assets, mainly gas and LPG, at household and local level. With the right policy framework, Scotland has the potential to place itself at the forefront of micro-CHP innovation while deriving significant strategic as well as manufacturing benefit; indeed some companies noted their plans to make manufacturing investment in Scotland given the right support.

The minister, as mentioned in the Microgeneration Strategy for Scotland, supports energy generation in Scotland’s building stock as a means of ‘transitioning to a low carbon economy…reducing energy costs and taking more households out of fuel poverty’. The variety of micro-CHP products (commercially available or close to commercialisation) can readily deliver such bills reductions and decarbonisation gains in Scotland while readily benefitting from the substantial industrial and service boiler infrastructure in place.

To achieve these benefits, widespread deployment of micro-CHP technologies is necessary. This will require policy recognition, on par with other low carbon solutions, as well as mechanisms to provide an initial commercial boost to enable economies of scale. The minister recognised the potential of micro-CHP and agreed with the group of stakeholders to work together on the following issues towards enabling the range of micro-CHP technologies in Scotland:

Enabling micro-CHP - on par with other low carbon solutions - via a mandate under the Building Regulations;
supporting a structured discussion on a wide fuel cell micro-CHP demonstration project in Scotland and to this end backing collaboration with Scottish policy, industry and local stakeholders;
working with the group of micro-CHP stakeholders during the development of a Heat Generation Policy Statement to capture the role of diverse micro-CHP technologies in the on-gas and off-gas grid sectors in Scotland.
The minister’s support has reinforced the industry’s perception that there is a bright future for microCHP in Scotland. Stakeholders plan to deliver detailed proposals on the aforementioned range of issues raised during the October meeting to ensure that, with the right support framework in place, microCHP delivers its true strategic potential.

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