University of Utah Cogeneration Plant
- The University of Utah just opened up its cogeneration plant in the second week of October 2008.
- The cogeneration plant uses the same natural gas we already use to produce water to generate electricity.
- After being open for about 1 week, the plant is successfully running at 6.5 MW generation.
In October, 2008 the University of Utah’s first cogeneration plant began generating 6.5 MW of electricity while using waste heat to support a high temperature hot water system used for wintertime space heating. Designed by Chevron Energy Solutions, the new facility supplies about 7% of the University’s electricity demand. Replacing a decades old boiler system with a high efficiency combined heat and power facility will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 57,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. A Solar Taurus 70 natural gas turbine rated at 6.0 MW (site adjusted) produces 25–28 MMBtu/hour waste heat while using innovative technologies to reduce the nitrogen oxide output to a very low 9 parts per million. The cogeneration plant is one of many new initiatives the University of Utah is implementing to lower the school’s carbon footprint and meet the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.
To learn more about the University of Utah Cogeneration plant, read this Co-generation On-site Production Article or Distributed Energy Article .