Energy Efficiency

The “Energy Efficiency first” principle is a key foundation of the Energy Union, encouraging the use of efficient solutions to achieve a sustainable, affordable and well-functioning energy system. For the EU to reach its energy efficiency targets, EUTurbines highlights the need to equally apply this concept on both the supply and demand side: gas and steam turbines offer important future-proof solutions to increase energy efficiency from the supply side.

Gas and steam turbines offer important future-proof solutions to increase energy efficiency from the supply side.

Cogeneration, the simultaneous provision of power and heat, is an important energy efficiency measure, as outlined in the Energy Efficiency Directive. The turbine technology is widely used in cogeneration applications – also known as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) –, reaching high efficiency levels and maximising the use of resources. In the future, the technology will use renewable and decarbonised gases, ensuring its sustainability also in the longer-term.

The use of process waste heat – both from power generation and from industrial processes – is another example of the turbine technology’s contribution to energy efficiency. Waste heat cannot always be directly utilised due to the lack of infrastructure or the inadequate quality of the heat. The use of turbines to produce additional power from this otherwise unused heat should be regarded as an equally valid option to increase the energy efficiency of power generation and industrial processes.