| Benefits of cogeneration | Concerns about cogeneration |
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In traditional simple cycle natural gas turbines, a significant portion of the energy potential of the fuel is wasted when hot exhaust gases are discharged into the atmosphere. In cogeneration, waste heat from the gas turbine exhaust is converted to steam in a boiler. This steam may be used directly in an industrial process, or first pass through a steam turbine to produce additional electricity before being used as process steam. Cogeneration systems are typically large, industrial systems.
A good cogeneration site offers the co-production of electrical and thermal products from one fuel input. This provides efficiency benefits to the host industrial site (steam) and the power utility (electricity). This translates to the production of electrical energy efficiency in the range of 40-55 per cent.
