An industrial perspective of cogeneration – A comprehensive review

•Combined-cycle cogeneration utilises waste heat that leads to an improvement in energy efficiency.•Cogeneration seamlessly incorporates renewable fuels like bagasse and biomass into industries such as sugar production and pulp and paper, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.•Cogeneration systems provide scalability and flexibility, accommodating fluctuations in energy demands.•Cogeneration effectively reduces carbon emissions and mitigates environmental impact, thus aligning with sustainability objectives across diverse industrial sectors. The manufacturing industry, in general, is a major consumer of heat and power. Producing them in a combined manner from conventional fuels is called cogeneration and is widely practiced in the industry. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive review of cogeneration as used in a variety of industries. Various techniques and arrangements of cogeneration cycles (theoretical and active) and their implementation challenges are discussed with examples of studies from various countries. Our observations and recommendations extracted from these studies for implementing cogeneration in these industries are also discussed. [Display omitted]