POET Innovation - Cogeneration
POET is a member of the Combined Heat & Power Partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. CHP is the simultaneous production of heat and electricity from a single power source, natural gas in the case of these three plants. For a complete explanation of CHP, please see a white paper on the EPA website.
Our use of CHP has earned ENERGY STAR CHP Awards from the EPA for three POET facilities. POET Biorefining - Macon received the award in 2007 for a partnership with Macon Municipal Utilities that started in 2003. The utility operates a CHP system that provides 60 percent of the steam for POET Biorefining - Macon, while generating 10 MW of electricity for the local power pool. POET Biorefining - Laddonia received the ENERGY STAR CHP Award in 2008 for a similar partnership with the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission. And in 2009, POET Biorefining - Ashton earned the award for a natural gas-fired turbine that generates 56,000 pounds of steam per hour and up to 7.2 MW of electricity. The EPA estimates the combined GHG savings of these systems was equivalent to removing 16,016 passenger vehicles from the road in 2009.
But those aren't the only facilities making use of cogeneration to produce heat and power. POET Biorefining - Lake Crystal, an ethanol plant in Lake Crystal, MN, produces 56 million gallons of ethanol per year and 1 MW of electricity. Excess steam from the operation of the plant is used to power a steam turbine that produces electricity for the plant.
POET Biorefining - Big Stone is located near the Big Stone Power Plant in northeastern South Dakota. Excess steam from the power plant is used to power the ethanol production process and replace half of the ethanol plant's natural gas usage.
Impact of Combined Heat and Power (PDF)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Combined Heat and Power Partnership
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