CHP unit in a bus and metro depot in Brussels (STIB)

CHP UNIT IN A BUS AND METRO DEPOT IN BRUSSELSSTIB installed a CHP unit for the production of heat and electricity in the Delta bus and metro depot in Brussels. The depot covers an area of 70,000m². Besides some offices, it has a workshop for the light maintenance of buses and the light and heavy maintenance of metrocars. The heat produced by the CHP unit is used to heat the depot and workshop as well as to produce hot water for sanitary needs. The electricity produced by the CHP unit covers 27% of the depot’s energy requirements.

This enabled STIB to halve its production losses and to save 15% to 20% of primary energy compared to the separate production of the same amount of heat and electricity. This investment has a payback time of less than four years. In the Brussels Region, green electricity producers receive green certificates, which can be sold on a virtual market1. With this CHP system, STIB can earn green certificates by saving around 467 tons of CO2 each year, thus reducing the payback time. Given these financial benefits and CO2 reductions, STIB will continue to deploy the CHP technique in its depots.

1 Buyers are generally electricity providers required to hold a number of green certificates corresponding to the amount of green electricity sold to their customers.
 
Technical details
Thermal power 590 kW
Electrical power 400 kW
System efficiency 92.2%
Surface of the building 70,000m2
Investment costs (€) €475,000
Energy savings (%) 15-20%
Annual energy savings (kWh) 3,044,500 kWh
Annual CO2 savings (TCO2) 467 TCO2
Annual cost savings (€) €154,000 (with green certificates)
Payback time (years) 3 years / 1 year with subsidies (T2K + Brussels region funding)

Investment sheet: STIB CHP