CENTROTEC Sustainable AG : Award-winning energy efficiency: Wolf subsidiary Kuntschar + Schlüter supplied “2011 CHP Plant of the Year”

Brilon, January 12, 2012. Combined heat and power (CHP) units made by Kuntschar + Schlüter, a subsidiary of the Wolf Group, which in turn belongs to CENTROTEC Sustainable AG, have received the accolade of "2011 CHP Plant of the Year" from the journal "Energie & Management" and the German CHP association Bundesverband Kraft-Wärme-Kopplung e.V. The two award-winning gas-powered CHP units supply electricity and heat for the meat processor Wilhelm Brandenburg in Dreieich, covering an overall 8 % of its electricity consumption and 15-20 % of its heat requirements. The 40 % reduction in the cost of heat and the financial incentives available under the German Combined Heat and Power Generation Act mean the overall investment outlay of EUR 0.5 million will be recouped in just five years and will reduce CO2 emissions by 266 tonnes per year. The project also avoided the need for further extensions to the local power grid, thus further improving overall economy.

As a result of the steady growth of this supplier to the REWE chain, the local power grid had reached its capacity limit, raising the prospect of energy bottlenecks or costly expansion measures. The Hamburg-based Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft (EHA) stepped in with a ten-year energy supply contract; it also commissioned GITA Consult to plan a comprehensive co-generation concept tailored to the company's energy requirements and prospective growth.

Two GTK140 CHP units with MAN gas engines operating at Lambda = 1 each generate an electrical output of 140 kW and a thermal output of 207 kW, contributing towards the existing heat generation capacity of 7.8 MW for heating, ventilation and water-heating. The co-generated electricity generated from over 4,500 hours at full load is used entirely in situ by the meat processor for its compression refrigeration systems and production machinery. Overall, the two CHP modules, one of which can operate as an emergency power generator, achieve a fuel efficiency of more than 90 %, with a rate of 85 % still achieved even when running at a part load of 50 %. Based on this positive experience, there are already plans to extend the co-generation capacity in the next 2-3 years.

This outstanding example of how co-generation can be used to save primary energy and reduce CO2 emissions impressed not just the Wilhelm Brandenburg meat processor, but also the editors of the trade journal "Energie & Management" and the German CHP association Bundesverband Kraft-Wärme-Kopplung, which has been making its "CHP Plant of the Year" award since 2001. The Kuntschar + Schlüter system stood out from the other high-quality candidate CHP projects with electrical outputs ranging from 20 kW to 4.7 MW in wholesale establishments, office buildings, industrial companies, residential complexes and medical establishments thanks to the way it avoids the need for extensions to the power grid, produces high energy cost savings and, last but not least, significantly reduces CO2 emissions.

CENTROTEC Sustainable AG
CENTROTEC Sustainable AG and its subsidiaries enjoy a presence in over 50 different countries. The principal group companies are Wolf Heiztechnik, Brink Climate Systems and Ned Air in the Climate Systems segment, which have specialised in heating, climate control and ventilation technology e.g. in the form of solar thermal systems, CHP units and residential ventilation systems with heat recovery, as well as Ubbink and Centrotherm, which have focused on gas flue systems and solar system components in the Gas Flue Systems segment. CENTROTEC is consequently Europe's only listed full-service provider of solar thermal systems and energy-saving solutions for buildings.

Wolf GmbH (Mainburg, Germany)
Wolf Heiztechnik is one of Europe's leading suppliers of heating, climate control and ventilation technology. Its extensive product range includes a wide selection of heat-generating systems, as well as solar thermal systems, high-efficiency heat pumps, CHPs and heat recovery ventilation solutions. Wolf is moreover European market leader for climate control and ventilation systems with an air capacity of up to 100,000 m³/h. For further information about Wolf, visit .

Kuntschar & Schlüter GmbH (Wolfhagen-Ippinghausen)
Kuntschar + Schlüter, a company going back more than 30 years as one of the oldest suppliers of combined heat and power (CHP) plants for non-central energy generation, has been part of the Wolf Group since 2008. Its product range comprises CHP units for natural gas, sewage gas and biogas with electrical outputs ranging from 7 to 400 kW. The company's portfolio of services includes the planning and configuring of CHP plants, the custom manufacturing of high-efficiency CHP units and all project planning tasks and connecting work involved in setting up a CHP plant. It also provides a comprehensive round-the-clock service including the remote maintenance of systems. For further information about Kuntschar + Schlüter, visit .