Briefly said in plain text: The XRGI® operates as follows
The XRGI® from EC POWER is a compact cogeneration plant and uses the principle of combined heat and power (CHP): It simultaneously generates power and heat in a small system directly on site.
The XRGI® is powered by gas, preferably from renewable energy sources.
XRGI® users can therefore decide for themselves on their CO2 footprint.
- For power generation, this gas will be burnt in a highly efficient and extremely quiet combustion engine. The released kinetic energy drives a generator which produces electrical power – like a dynamo on a bike, but it has much more output.
- This process generates heat that is almost fully captured by the XRGI® using a heat exchanger. In this way, it can be transferred to a heating circuit and used for generating heating of rooms as well as for hot water.
Because a cogeneration plant like our XRGI® utilises the input energy twice, it is so efficient. Here, experts speak about the high degree of utilisation of the CHP.
CHP – what is it?
A cogeneration plant (CHP) is called that for a reason: This term specifies plants for simultaneous power and heat production and whose engine unit is often constructed as a compact block. There are always further components connected to the engine unit which complete the CHP – for the XRGI®, these are the Q heat distributor and the iQ control panel.
There are cogeneration plants of many sizes and performance levels, from a few kilowatts of electricity (kWel) for use in residential, commercial, office and industrial buildings, up to the supply of whole town districts by plants in the megawatt range (MWel). Our series of XRGI® models offers consumer-friendly CHPs up to 20 kWel (in a cascade up to 80 kWel). This is the reason why they, like other devices up to 50 kWel, are called as Mini CHPs.
Cogeneration plants also have many other names, e.g. ‘power-generating heating’ or a ‘heating and power station’ (CHP for supplying heat to public buildings) or an ‘industrial power station’ (for supplying heat to factory plants).
By Combined-Heat-Power (CHP) we understand a process, in which the chemically fixed energy into fuels is converted in kinetic energy to produce electrical power and heat energy for heating. This combined conversion with simultaneous utilisation has low losses and is therefore very efficient. Combined-Heat-and-Power is the most efficient rational energy technology.
The objective of EC POWER:
100% climate-neutral
Ecologically harmful coal and nuclear power plants will soon be a thing of the past; the future belongs to renewable energies. To this end, our XRGI® cogeneration unit can also be operated completely ‘renewable’ as well. Certainly, the following must be observed.
- Wind energy is available unlimitedly and is extensively used for the generation of environmentally friendly electrical power. However, wind is inconsistent and therefore it is difficult to calculate. At too low wind speeds, not enough energy will be produced; at too high wind speeds, the network could be overloaded.
- The energy from solar radiation could meet the power requirements of the whole world’s population. However, in our latitudes, sunlight duration and intensity fluctuate very strongly. In times of low-sunlight, production is not enough to cover the real demand. Alternatively, sometimes so much power is generated on sunny days that this must be stored.
At EC POWER we therefore think one step ahead and rely on the Power-to-Gas principle: Excess power from renewable energies is converted into climate-friendly, synthetically generated fuel gas. This can be stored easily – much easier than electrical power – and your XRGI® CHP uses it exactly then when energy is required.
In this way, the natural fluctuations of the generation of renewable energy can be compensated for and buildings can be supplied with electricity and heat also in the future. An XRGI® plant that is supplied with climate-friendly gas from a Power-to-Gas plant is a vital component for the energy transition.
Within such a Power-to-Gas plant, in the first stage, water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen by feeding in the excess power. In the second stage, climate-damaging CO2 is used to produce synthetic methane from hydrogen. This can be stored, or it is directly fed in the natural gas supply network; it is also possible to use it for gas-driven vehicles. As a result, it will be available if it is needed in times of low energy production.
