Now Environment: What are Hybrid Energy Systems (HSE) in practice?
Wioletta Tratkiewicz: The concept of Hybrid Energy Systems comes from Art. 2 points 13 Act on Renewable Energy Sources. In business practice, Hybrid Energy Systems are systems that connect different things together energy sources. Most often it is this source renewable energy and conventional. Thanks to this, for us, the production of thermal energy is the result of combining the operation of an independent RES installation with traditional generation units. HSE is an intelligent energy system that combines various energy generation technologies, enabling optimized use of available sources, thus increasing building energy efficiency. It most often includes gas boilers, heat pumps, photovoltaic panels, heat storage and electricity storage. Thanks to this comprehensive approach, hybrid energy systems provide energy for both heating, cooling and electricity, adapting to the changing needs of users.
Hybrid energy systems mutually compensate for the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy sources, from which electricity, heat and increasingly cooling are produced. However, before investing in a given energy recovery system, an analysis should be carried out and the degree of energy efficiency should be verified. For a residential building, three components are taken into account for the overall assessment: energy efficiency, socio-ecological efficiency and economic efficiency.
HSEs are a very good solution for the use of renewable energy sources. Obtaining electricity thanks to this system can become more efficient and ensure continuity of supply and operation of the Sources. The HSE system is also more economically viable than individual individual power plants, whichthey are the basis renewable energy sources, and its use can be environmentally friendly.
TŚ: Where are such systems used?
WT: Hybrid boiler rooms are an ideal solution for various types of business and industrial buildings, including office buildings, shopping centers, hospitals and production plants. They are tailored to the needs of both individual facilities and industrial complexes, which makes them a versatile solution for various sectors of the economy. Thanks to the ability to simultaneously provide heat, electricity and power mixing biomethane or hydrogen, hybrid boiler rooms are a flexible solution causing increasing energy efficiency, as well as meeting the unique needs of various industries.
Moreover, developers and property managers planning modern housing estates may choose hybrid boiler rooms to provide residents with an innovative and ecological source of energy. The offer is addressed to public institutions, cooperatives and housing communities, developers of housing estates, as well as business buildings, industrial buildings and industrial enterprises.
TŚ: What models of cooperation are possible in the area of HSE?
WT: As part of our services, we design, build and provide operator support for energy installations based on cogeneration, trigeneration systems, or hybrid residential boiler rooms and hybrids for industrial and business buildings. In buildings undergoing modernization, it is not always possible to use everything we would like, but we strive for maximum optimization.
Veolia provides advisory services in the field of support in the selection of the HSE solution by the client and participates in the costs of purchasing devices for the designed non-system source. By becoming the system operator under a separate agreement and agreed financial conditions, Veolia maintains the Off-System Source for the Customer. The costs of operating the system and purchasing electricity or gas are borne by the customer, this is the so-called Participation agreement.
Therefore, it is worth emphasizing the role of the eco-design concept, which is strongly promoted in the EU. Department of Energy Transformation Veolia Group participates in many investment projects from the very beginning, presenting good practices in HSE concepts that meet the assumptions of sustainable development and the assumptions of the circular economy (Circular Economy) - then we achieve the best results.
TŚ: However, since many installations require modernization, the question about costs is justified. Is it worth it?
WT: We have identified and confirmed the list of benefits. Hybrid boiler rooms are the best way to achieve a high level of energy efficiency in a building. They enable the optimal use of available energy sources by integrating technologies such as gas boilers or heat pumps with appropriately effective storage tanks for domestic hot water (DHW) and central heating (CH). In the future, local alternative renewable fuels or heating devices that use the natural direction of temperature changes will also be used. Thanks to the fact that energy systems are powered by renewable energy sources (mainly photovoltaics, and in the future also locally produced biomethane or hydrogen), we achieve the effect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Veolia's proposal is to group energy systems and implement modern solutions with the involvement of science.
From our clients' point of view, specific reductions in bill costs are crucial. If, for example, after a year of operation, installed energy system it will even lower your bills o 20-30%, this is the best argument for the discussed solution. We have a number of practical examples proving that the integration of various technologies allows us to reduce the operating costs of business and industrial buildings, which translates into real financial savings. It is also a way to achieve energy independence, because HSE installations ensure a constant supply of energy even in emergency situations or in the event of unavailability of external energy sources.
TŚ: By the way, Veolia is also a trading company, so you have first-hand access to the volume of green energy. Does this have any special significance?
WT: Veolia, being a multi-energy company, has a wide scope of operations, which helps achieve synergy and optimization effects. I am responsible for the Energy Transformation Department, which cooperates closely with the Energy Trade and Trading Department, which provides services both to external entities and to Veolia Group companies. Thanks to this, we have access to attractive prices for the energy we buy on the market. Therefore, it is a multilateral, multi-stage cooperation that allows us to optimize costs. We complement each other.
The structure of the Energy Transformation Department includes three offices, one of which is responsible for preparing projects with developers and local governments, and the other for supervision and execution of investments (technical area). The third one is responsible for collecting data from meter measurements, which are necessary to analyze the actual effectiveness of the installed systems and their possible correction. Thanks to this operating model, we have full control over the processes.
