Industrial natural gas-fired turbines operate on the same concept as the larger centralized gas turbine generators discussed above. However, instead of being located in a centralized plant, these turbines are located in close proximity to where the electricity being generated will be used. Industrial turbines – producing electricity through the use of high temperature, high pressure gas to turn a turbine that generates a current – are compact, lightweight,
easily started, and simple to operate. This type of distributed generation is commonly used by medium and large sized establishments, such as universities, hospitals, commercial buildings and industrial plants, and can achieve efficiency up to 58 percent.
In contrast with distributed generation the heat that would normally be lost as waste energy can easily be harnessed to perform other functions, such as powering a boiler or space heating. This is known as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems. These systems make use of heat that is normally wasted in the electric generation process, thereby increasing the energy efficiency of the total system.
In addition, on-site natural gas turbines can be used in a combined cycle unit, as discussed above. Due to the advantages of these types of generation units, a great deal of research is being put into developing more efficient, advanced gas turbines for distributed generation.
For more information on natural gas as a fuel for generating electricity.