This program from the Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office provides technical assistance and resources to industrial facilities and other large end users interested in onsite energy, including CHP, and engages with stakeholders to facilitate more widespread adoption of onsite clean energy technologies. Read about the key services of DOE’s Onsite Energy program in this fact sheet.

The EPA hosts a CHP Resource Center to promote the use of CHP in order to reduce air pollution and water usage associated with electric power generation.

There are several steps in the process of developing a CHP project, from making a preliminary assessment to actually building and operating a system. The following resources provide additional information about the CHP project development process:

• DOE's Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnerships (Onsite Energy TAPs) – The Onsite Energy TAPs assist end-users with project development from initial onsite energy screening to installation.
• EPA Project Development Guide – EPA offers a guide to development of CHP projects with a detailed description of each of the five steps in the process including: qualification, level 1 feasibility analysis, level 2 feasibility analysis.
• DOE’s CHP Project Profiles – DOE maintains a database of two-page summaries profiling real world CHP projects with detailed information about system design, project costs, annual energy savings, environmental benefits and more.
• CHP in CI Case Studies – Selected case studies are highlighted to identify examples of CHP providing benefits to critical infrastructure facilities.

For more information on CHP technologies, benefits, and other key details, please see the resources listed below:

• DOE CHP Technology Fact Sheet Series – This fact sheet series explains the fundamentals and characteristics of CHP, including common CHP technologies and applications.
• Catalog of CHP Technologies – This report provides an overview of how CHP systems work and the key concepts of efficiency and power-to-heat ratios. It also provides information and performance characteristics of five commercially available CHP prime movers.
• Calculating CHP Emissions Reductions – The EPA’s CHP Energy and Emissions Savings Calculator is an Excel-based tool that can be used to estimate the energy and emissions savings associated with any U.S. CHP installation.
• Calculating CHP Efficiency – EPA describes two methods for calculating CHP efficiency: total system efficiency and effective electric efficiency.

• DOE CHP Policy and Program Profiles – These profiles describe policies or programs impacting CHP deployment, including history of development, outcomes of successful policies, and lessons learned in implementation.
• EPA CHP Policies and Incentives – EPA provides information on policies and incentives that are applicable to CHP.
• SEE Action Guide to Successful Implementation of State Combined Heat and Power Policies – This guide informs state utility regulators and other state policymakers with actionable information to assist them in implementing key state policies that impact CHP.

• Microgrid Design Toolkit (MDT) – A software tool that assists microgrid designers in the preliminary stages of microgrid design. The model uses user-defined objectives focused on the cost, performance, and reliability of various DERs.
• Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM) – A customer adoption model of DER based on economic, technical, and environmental metrics. The model aims to minimize the cost of operating distributed generation resources, including CHP.
• Interruption Cost Estimator – Developed by LBNL, the ICE tool is designed for reliability planners, but can provide estimates for the cost per interruption of an outage event and the total cost of sustained electric power interruptions.
• RETScreen – Developed by Natural Resources Canada, software system that provides project feasibility and energy performance analysis for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and cogeneration projects.
• 2015 Energy Sector-Specific Plan – This section of the DHS NIPP provides information with regards to resilience planning for critical infrastructure facilities specific to the energy sector.

• NIPP Critical Infrastructure Plan – This report provides information about critical infrastructure sectors that are of concern to national security, and a vision, mission, and goals focused on risk management to influence future critical infrastructure security and resiliency planning.
• 2015 Energy Sector-Specific Plan – This section of the DHS NIPP provides information with regards to resilience planning for critical infrastructure facilities specific to the energy sector.
• Connecticut Comprehensive Energy Strategy – The state of Connecticut addresses a number of resilience objectives in its Comprehensive Energy Strategy, including promoting programs that would keep critical facilities and core services in cities and town.

• DHS Best Practices Guide – DHS developed a best practice guide to assist healthcare providers in pursuing resilient infrastructure options, which highlight CHP and other onsite generation options to increase energy security and reliability.
• Healthcare Without Harm Resilience Report – Healthcare Without Harm's report details resilience changes that healthcare providers could make to be better prepared for future natural disasters and stronger storms.

• CHP Technical Potential in the United States – This market analysis report provides data on the technical potential in industrial facilities and commercial buildings for “topping cycle” CHP, waste heat to power CHP (WHP CHP), and district energy CHP in the United States.
• CHP Installation Database – DOE maintains a comprehensive database of all U.S. CHP installations, updated annually.