St. Joseph’s Hospital Cogeneration Plant, Syracuse, New York
Hampered by the limits of the existing utility grid, the hospital looked to CHP – a 4.6 MW plant cleverly tucked above a loading dock – to efficiently meets their energy needs and solve capacity issues.
CHP PROGRAM MANAGER: Cogen Power Technologies
DESIGN-BUILDER: Bette & Cring
In 2008, St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center broke ground a monumental $220 million expansion. Demands on the local grid was projected to “max out” the capacity of the existing electricity infrastructure, and the hospital was faced with the decision to add a costly power line or look for alternative solutions to their power needs.
Keeping with the hospital’s intent on sustainable development and energy conservation, cogeneration (or CHP), generating both electricity and thermal energy from a single fuel source, would fit their needs. The adoption of CHP allows the hospital to generate its own power and steam, reduce demand on the grid, improve reliability, lower costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The team designed a $15 Million system to work in conjunction with the utility that includes a 4.6 MW Gas Turbine, a 45,000 pph Heat Recovery Steam Generator, and a 225 psig gas compressor. To control electricity supply during outages, Cogen equipped the system with a custom Automatic Load Shed System.
With limited open space on campus, finding an open site to accommodate the footprint of the plant was problematic. The project team literally “looked upwards” to find a volume of space tucked beneath on of the wings of patient rooms over existing loading docks, to house the plant.
Construction was coordinated and phased to maintain delivery operations for the hospital. With three floors of patient rooms beginning just 20 feet above the plant, it was essential that activities move to completion seamlessly without disrupting patient health and happiness.
Meeting the hospital’s goals, CHP allows St. Joseph’s to generate their own power – improving reliability; reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 11,676 tons/year; and reducing the annual utility budget by approximately $1 Million in its first full year of operation.
Filling the Void
Finding available space for the plant was a major hurdle in getting the project off the ground.
- No availability of open ground on the hospital’s highly developed city block
- The team discovered an unused “volume of space” adjacent to the existing boiler plant, sandwiched between the hospital’s loading dock and patient rooms above.
