CHP — combined heat & power.

Combined heat and power — CHP — is one of the clearest expressions of the Dutch philosophy that every input should do more than one job. A CHP unit is essentially a large gas engine driving a generator: it burns gas to produce electricity, and in the process it yields two by-products that a greenhouse happens to need in exactly the same place. The heat from the engine's cooling water and exhaust is captured for the heating system, and the exhaust gases, once cleaned, are rich in CO₂ that can be dosed to the crop to lift photosynthesis. One fuel, three useful products.

That integration is why CHP is so efficient. A conventional power station throws away most of its waste heat, reaching perhaps 40–50% efficiency; a CHP unit that uses the electricity, the heat and the CO₂ together converts more than 90% of the fuel's energy into something useful. Producing all three separately — buying grid power, running a boiler and trucking in liquid CO₂ — wastes energy and money that the combined engine keeps.

What makes CHP genuinely powerful, though, is the flexibility it gives around energy markets. The electricity can drive the grow lights directly or be sold back to the grid when prices are high, and because a heat buffer decouples engine running hours from the crop's heat demand, the engine can run when it is most profitable — typically at peak power prices — while the warmth it produces is banked in the buffer and released to the crop later, often overnight. The CHP effectively lets a grower trade energy: generate when it pays, heat when the crop needs it.

CHP is not the right answer everywhere — it depends on gas and electricity prices, grid rules and whether the crop values CO₂ — which is exactly why it is a design decision rather than a default. DutchGreenhouses® assesses whether CHP fits your energy market and integrates it with the heating, CO₂ and lighting strategy. Get in touch to explore it for your project.