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CHP in Delaware
D.C.
| Delaware
| Maryland
| New
Jersey | Pennsylvania
| Virginia
| West
Virginia
Summary
of Activity
A significant percentage of the electrical generation
in Delaware takes advantage of its waste heat, at17.4%
of total generating capacity, this is above the 8% national
average in 2003. Electrical prices are below the national
average and have gradually fallen over the last 10 years.
Natural gas has experienced price fluctuations along
with the all other states in the region and seen prices
climb 84% over the last 12 years. There has been a lot
of CHP and distributed energy activity in the state
to this point. There remains 2452MW of CHP potential
within the state, the bulk of it within the industrial
sector.
Installed
CHP Capacity
Currently, Delaware 's CHP
market generates 17.4% of its total energy market,
amounting to a capacity of 2452MW. This energy primarily
generated through 5 industrial sites. These sites
produce 20% of the total CHP capacity.
Potential
Market for CHP
According to the US Department
of Energy, installations of CHP systems in Delaware's
commercial and industrial sector have the potential
to generate 150 to 380MW, representing 0.3-0.8% of
DOE's 47GW long-term goal.
State Restructuring Activities
Since the restructuring act was enacted in 1999, Delaware has only had a total of 5 industrial and commercial companies switch over to an alternate supplier, representing about 11MW of electricity consumption. In addition to the deregulation of its own market, utility companies can also compete in the restructured markets of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Summary of Restructuring by Mid-Atlantic Energy Coalition
Status of State Electric Industry Restructuring from DOE EIA (pdf)
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Electricity
Pricing
Since 1990, Delaware 's commercial electrical costs
have followed an overall declining trend. Commercial
consumers costs have reduced from paying $0.0699 per
kWh in 1990 to $0.0599 per kWh in 2000 ($/MBtu = .3413kWh).
This figure is significantly below the 2000 national
average of $0.0736 per kWh.
Natural
Gas Pricing
When evaluating CHP, a considerable amount of attention
needs to be placed on the price of natural gas. Natural
gas prices in the state of Delaware have steadily increased
over the past few years. Compared to the national average
of $6.57/kft 3 in 2002, Delaware 's prices are far above
average having a price of $9.40/kft 3 that year.
The combination of falling electric
prices and climbing prices for natural gas make the
"spark spread" between the cost of electrical and fuel
energy smaller which tightens the profitability of CHP
technology but there are still going to be successful
applications for the appropriate use of CHP. Issues
with the reliability of power in light of both the tropical
storm and grid power disruptions to the north will motivate
users to explore DG options. In the case where DG is
already being installed, waste heat recovery is likely
to decrease the operating cost of the installation.
DG remains distinct from emergency backup generators,
which are typically not permitted to operate continuously
due to the emissions permit that they are issued with.
DOE
EIA - Natural Gas Prices by State
(select residential/commercial/industrial in the
“Data Series” box at top of this page)
DOE
EIA - Electricity Prices (a variety of monthly
and annual data is available at this site)
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Electric
Utility Websites:
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- company website |
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- company website |
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CHP
Requirements & State Support Programs Links
DE
Dept of Agriculture
DE
Energy Office
DE
Dept of Natural Resources & Environmental Control
DE
DNREC -- Loans, Grants & Cost Share programs
Financial
incentives, outreach programs, and rules/regulations/policies
for renewable energy and distributed generation
Regulatory
Requirements for Small Electric Generators - DE
State Agency Contacts:
Delaware Public Service Commission
Delaware Air Quality Regulations
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