What Are The Advantages Of Using Captive Power Plants?

By Author: Thermax Global
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Captive power plants are a localised source of power for energy uses. They are typically used in offices or industrial facilities. Gas engines are a very efficient type of captive power plant. With a localised supply of gas like a gas pipeline, these plants can be used as a form of distributed generation used to generate power close to the source of use.

Gas fuelled captive power plants function the best when they are used in a combined heat and power configuration. Petrochemicals have easy access to gas and liquid fuels and prefer using captive gas power plants.

Captive power plants offer the following benefits, leading to their mass adoption across various industries:

1.Obtaining power from a captive power plant is cheaper than getting power from the grid

2.Transportation and distribution losses are eliminated

3.Expenses on infrastructure, roads, and land etc.

4.Overall ease of power plant operations

Types of captive power plants are as follows:

1.Steam Power Plant
Steam power plants are often set up in large and heavy industries such as the steel and aluminium ...
... industries. Such industries already have access to coal and the necessary facilities required to purchase and store this coal. These plants are over 100MV. Sugar industries use bagasse fuel in captive power plants to reduce the costs of power generation.

2.Diesel Engine Plant
These kind of plants are the most common captive power plants. They are of the range 1MV to 10MV. Diesel power plants are popular due to the low capital investment, small space requirement, quick starter time, and efficiency.

3.Cogeneration Plant
An example of a cogeneration plant can be a steam-gas turbine combined with a heat boiler. While the initial cost of setting up a cogeneration plant is higher than that of an electric power plant, for industries that require both electricity and steam they can save on costs of installation of a separate steam generator.

4.Hydro Plant
This type of plant is suitable for industries which are based near the site for a mini-hydro power plant. Hydro plants are preferred for their low gestation period, short starting point, low operating cost, and pollution free functioning. These plants are also known to be cost-efficient.

5.Wind-Diesel Plants
Industries that are located in an area that is suitable for wind development have the option of choosing wind power plants. A captive power plant that uses wind to operate is economical in nature. These plants often have a backup diesel plant to provide electricity in times when wind speeds are low. The energy of wind-diesel power plants can be directly used by the industry that has installed these plants.