£354,000 annual savings from on-site CHP
Combined Heat and Power installation at a luxury resort, delivering £354,000 in annual energy savings and a 2.5-year payback on capex.
A UK luxury resort with 24/7 heat and power demand replaced its conventional grid-and-boiler setup with an on-site Combined Heat and Power system. The installation captures waste heat from electricity generation and feeds it back into resort operations, delivering 88%+ system efficiency and £354,000 in annual energy savings. Available on a 5- or 7-year lease that is cashflow positive from year one, or as a capex investment with a 2.5-year payback.
A luxury resort operates a heavy continuous thermal and electrical load. Pools, spas, kitchens, laundry, and guest accommodation all draw power and heat around the clock. Traditional setups meet that demand with grid electricity and gas boilers, two cost lines that have both been exposed to price volatility since 2022.
This project replaced the conventional setup with an on-site CHP unit. The system generates electricity for the resort and captures the waste heat from that generation, feeding it directly into the operation's hot water and heating demand. Because the heat output isn't wasted, total system efficiency reaches 88%+, well above the 70-80% typical of CHP installations elsewhere.
The result is a single piece of infrastructure that simultaneously reduces the resort's grid electricity dependence, replaces gas boiler load, and shields the business from the kind of price spikes that hit the sector hard between 2022 and 2024.
The resort faced three problems that conventional approaches couldn't solve at the same time.
Energy costs were the largest single line on the operational P&L after labour, and rising. Grid electricity prices had nearly doubled in three years, and gas prices had followed. The resort's competitive position was being eroded by costs it didn't control.
The operation needed continuous, reliable heat and power. Switching off was never an option. Any energy solution had to deliver around the clock, in all weather, with no interruption to guest experience.
Capital was finite. Like most hospitality operators after the post-2022 shock, the resort was protecting cash for guest experience investments, refurbishments, and operational priorities. A traditional capex-heavy infrastructure project would have competed directly with those priorities and probably lost.
We worked with our installer partner to scope, fund, and install a high-efficiency Combined Heat and Power unit on site. The system generates electricity that powers the resort directly, with the heat produced as a byproduct captured and used for hot water and heating demand across the estate.
Two commercial routes were offered. The resort chose the lease option, which removed the capex barrier entirely and delivered cashflow positive returns from year one. A 5-year lease delivers £223,000 in net annual benefit. A 7-year lease delivers £172,000 in net annual benefit with lower monthly payments. Both options leave the resort better off in cash terms from month one.
For comparison, the capex route was costed at £907,000 with a 2.5-year payback. After payback, the full £354,000 annual saving runs straight to the bottom line for the rest of the asset's life.
£354,000 projected annual net energy savings
88%+ system efficiency through heat recovery
2.5-year payback on £907,000 capex
£223,000 net annual benefit on 5-year lease
£172,000 net annual benefit on 7-year lease
Continuous, on-site generation reducing grid dependence
Significant reduction in carbon emissions versus grid electricity plus gas boilers
The case for on-site CHP is exceptionally strong for any operation with continuous heat demand. Final savings are subject to a detailed site survey to confirm heat usage assumptions, but the initial data confirmed CHP as the most effective route for high-thermal-demand facilities to protect their operating margins.
Annual energy savings
£354,000
System efficiency
