part 1: overview of cogeneration and its status in asia - Fire

88 Part II: Cogeneration experiences in Asia and elsewhere
The attitudes of the government and the power utility have changed slowly over the years.
New ‘decrees’ were announced in favour of cogeneration by the national authorities in the
beginning of 1995. The national gas company, Gaz de France (GdF) is also promoting
development of cogeneration using natural gas through information dissemination, technical
and economic appraisal, financing arrangements, maintenance and advisory services. There
has been a very rapid evolution of natural gas use in new cogeneration installations in the
recent years, as can be seen in Figure 3.1.
Installed Capacity (MW)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Building
Heating Network
Industry
91 92 93 94 95 96 97
Figure 3.1 Statistics of cogeneration with natural gas as fuel
The sudden hike in installed capacity between 1996 and 1997 is the result of the new policy,
removing barrier on the limit of electricity sale to the grid. In 1995 and 1996, most units had a
size ranging between 1 and 8 MW whereas much bigger installations were commissioned in
1997, mostly in industries. There were altogether 84 installations ordered in 1997, 22 using
turbines and 62 using combustion engines. The total installed capacity for gas turbines was
450 MW whereas for engines, it amounted to 132 MW only.
Recent policies regarding financial assistance for cogeneration include tax holiday on natural
gas for 5 years, reduced tax on investment costs, 50 per cent reduction in professional tax,
etc. For facilitating further development, the “Cogeneration Mission” of Gaz de France started
offering a package of services including:
- technical advice during the preliminary study (75 per cent of the projects done since
1991);
- assistance in engineering during project implementation or during the signing of
maintenance contract (25 per cent of the projects since 1991);
- assistance for arranging finances (35 per cent of the projects since 1991);
- financial guarantee on possible changes in energy prices (35 per cent of the projects
since 1991).
3.4.2 Other actors promoting cogeneration
The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) has been an ardent
supporter of cogeneration for several years. Before 1990, this technique was supported by
ADEME because it allowed reducing around 30 per cent of fuel thanks to its efficiency ranging
from 75 to 80 per cent. In the early 90s, another important justification to support cogeneration