Polish dairy company OSM Piątnica expanding cogeneration system

By Jim Cornall

- Last updated on GMT

The OSM Piątnica production plant in Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. Pic: Caterpillar
The OSM Piątnica production plant in Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. Pic: Caterpillar

Related tags Dairy processing Cottage cheese Poland

OSM Piątnica, a Polish dairy cooperative and the leading domestic producer of cottage cheese, is to expand its company’s cogeneration, combined heat and power (CHP) capabilities.

It will add 2MW of power and 2MW of heat through a new Caterpillar Inc. Cat G3516H gas generator set with integrated CHP technologies, supplied by Eneria Poland, at its production plant in Podlaskie Voivodeship, northeast Poland.

The installation supplements an existing 2MW cogeneration system originally installed in 2012 by Eneria and Caterpillar. In addition to providing the dairy cooperative with energy autonomy, the system supplies up to 30% of the process steam required for the production of pasteurized milk, cheese, butter and yogurt.

Eneria integrated the new cogeneration capabilities with the existing system, including sound attenuation technologies to minimize the impact on residents in homes a few meters from the plant. 

Stanisław Soliński, vice president of OSM Piątnica, said, “This efficient cogeneration system helps support our plans for growth by supplying added power and heat for our rapidly expanding production lines while helping to minimize the impact of our operations on the environment as well as on our neighbors.”

cat poland
Pic: Caterpillar

Caterpillar said facilities can reduce operating costs with a Cat cogeneration combined heat and power (CHP) system or a trigeneration system incorporating cooling. This enables the units to simultaneously provide power for electrical loads as well as thermal energy for a facility’s heat and cooling requirements.  Any Cat natural gas-fueled engine can be configured specifically to support facility processes or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) requirements.

While the combination of grid power and traditional boilers for thermal energy offers less than 50% energy efficiency, CHP systems from Caterpillar can provide total energy efficiencies of up to 90% or more. This allows the customer to save on energy spending, provide autonomy of supply and reduce emissions.