Small-scale biomass CHP plants in Sweden and Finland

Biomass continues to attract much interest as a renewable, low-CO2, and increasingly cost competitive alternative to traditional fossil fuels for heat and/or electric power generation. At the same time, deregulation of electricity markets offer new opportunities for small-scale decentralized power plants (<20 MWe) in an area where traditional centralized technologies mostly dominate. These factors represent a strong driving force for the development of innovative small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) plants based on biofuels. This paper provides an overview of small-scale CHP with biomass as a fuel. A survey of existing plants in Sweden and Finland is presented, along with an overview of major energy conversion technologies under development. Information is provided related to energy taxation along with an outlook on future prospects.