Combined heat and power considered as a virtual steam cycle heat pump

► Large-scale CHP systems are thermodynamically equivalent to virtual steam cycle heat pumps. ► COPs of such virtual heat pumps are necessarily better than the Carnot limit for real heat pumps. ► COPs can approach 9 for plant matched to district heating systems with flow temperatures of 90 °C. ► CHP combined with CCGT and CCS can reduce the carbon intensity of delivered heat ∼30-fold.