Castle hill goes Green

Simons Green Energy was engaged to design an efficient, low-cost and low-maintenance, grid parallel cogeneration system that would provide the C2K Aquatic Centre with enough power to cover base load electricity demands.

The system provides electricity in parallel to electricity supply coming in from the grid. Therefore, in the event of a shutdown of the cogeneration system, electricity supplied from the grid is able to make up any shortfall automatically.

The system is also able to utilise waste heat to provide hot water for all of the Aquatic Centre’s swimming pools and domestic hot water storage tanks.

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The Centre has four indoor pools, all of which were previously heated by electric heat pumps, while domestic hot water was supplied by gas fired hot water units

Technology specifications at Castle Hill

Designed and installed by Simons Green Energy, the cogeneration plant is made up of a SEVA MAN142NG kilowatt (kW) reciprocating gas engine, as well as a series of heat exchangers and hot water storage tanks. The six cylinder MAN engine will produce 775 megawatt hours of electricity per year.

The new cogeneration plant satisfies 70 per cent of the building’s electricity requirements. The hot water is produced from the waste heat of the cogeneration plant.

The cogeneration unit at Castle Hill RSL has an 85 per cent conversion efficiency compared with 30 per cent efficiency for conventional grid-supplied electricity.

Cogen generating

The generator operates from 7:00am to 10:00pm and provides base load electricity for the C2K Aquatic Centre, and is registered as a grid parallel generator. The plant is connected to the Endeavour Energy Network, and fuel for the plant is supplied by AGL.

At the site, waste heat is recovered and captured from the engine to provide heating for uses such as portable hot water, space heating and process heat for swimming pools.

At the opening of the facility, Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Efficiency Council Rob Murray-Leach, said “Cogeneration is a smart way to get much, much more out of fuels. In a typical coal-fired generator more than 70 per cent of the energy in the fuel is lost in heat. With cogeneration, we use that heat in the fuel to provide useful services, like heating and cooling. Everyone likes to get more for less.”

Cutting emissions and helping the community

The project is expected to reduce the Centre’s CO2 emissions by approximately 300 tonnes per annum.

New South Wales Minister for the Environment Robyn Parker said at the opening of the plant:

“The cogeneration plant we are opening today is an excellent example of how we can implement practical solutions with the available technologies to improve the efficiency of the energy we use.

“It is great to see Castle Hill RSL take on the challenges of balancing energy use with environmentally friendly practices. In doing so they have demonstrated leadership within the community by showing how it is possible to reduce energy use, cut bills and reduce gas emissions.”