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COGENERATION
REPLACEMENT AND CONTROLS INSTALLATION
Cogeneration Replacement and Controls Installation
Project for a state prison on a 640-acre campus.
benefit
The final project scope included a 5.2 Megawatt
cogeneration plant that produces electricity and
steam for water heating, laundry, kitchen and
space heating needs. State of the art control
systems make this a fully automated operation,
including provisions to keep the entire facility
up and running during a blackout. The prison now
benefits from energy savings and the security
of a backup power system. On an annual basis,
the institution's energy bill was reduced by $1,150,000,
a savings of 28%. |
2.6 MW solar turbine |
challenge
Some of the challenges presented by this job were the
time constraints imposed by the bond funding, the state
of disrepair of the existing cogeneration plant and
the security concerns associated with an "inside
the fence" facility. The State's Energy Management
Division set up requirements for a self-funding project
that would also address various pressing needs at the
prison, and they mandated that next>edge assemble
a bid package, including energy saving calculations,
scope and price, all within a three week time period.
next>edge faced significant challenges in implementing
this scope of work. The existing electrical switchgear
and control systems were found to be marginal, incomplete
and incapable of meeting their original design intent.
Another serious obstacle was staging the installation
of this equipment in a medium security institution.
solution
The next>edge team replaced the existing cogeneration plant
and provided an automated energy management and electric power
control system, all within the selffunding financial parameters
mandated by the client. The speed of next>edge's response
along with its precision enabled bond funding to be captured
for this project, funding that would have otherwise expired
and been lost forever.
next>edge value add
next>edge skillfully negotiated the interconnection agreement
with PG&E, retaining the existing switchgear and thus
avoiding added project costs. We also provided innovative
sequences and software to facilitate continued operations
in any type of power interruption scenario.
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