Technical and economic potential of small and micro-cogeneration systems in residential and tertiary sector in Croatia

The yearly consumption of energy for space heating and hot water preparation in the residential and tertiary sectors in Croatia is approximately 70 PJ, whereof the energy produced in public cogeneration plants and public heating plants account for not more than 10 %, whereas the rest is mostly covered by combustion of the natural and liquefied gas, diesel oil and fuel oil, wood and lignite. Since only a lesser part of space heating and hot water preparation requirements is covered by generation in cogeneration plants, the residential and tertiary sectors represent potentially the biggest domain for implementation of cogeneration technology in Croatia, which, depending on economic justifiability, could be realized either in the existing or newly built district heating systems or by installation of autonomous micro and small cogeneration units in detached buildings. This paper focuses on technical and economic potential of small and micro cogeneration technologies suitable for operation in specific conditions imposed by heating and cooling demand of typical customers in residential and tertiary sectors.