Once again, natural gas engine-driven chillers are setting the pace in the commercial cooling market. As recently as 1994, only 7,000 tons of engine cooling products were sold. GRI has been involved in the development of gas engine-driven chillers since the 1980s and has conducted research projects in partnership with Tecogen, York International Corp., and The Trane Company. Gas chillers are popular becaause they allow the end user choice of fuel.
Customers are no longer captive to a single energy source.
This is especially a relief for businesses that require cooling in areas where high electric rate structures have predominated. A hybrid system lets the user hedge against future energy rate uncertainties and choose the most economical energy source from hour to hour. The move toward real-time pricing will favor those customers, both gas and electric, that have relatively flat energy load profiles. Gas cooling represents an efficient way to level those profiles and gain leverage when purchasing energy. Deregulation, he notes, will offer new opportunities for many businesses to operate more cost effectively.