In the spring/summer of 2003, Eastern Maine Medical Center assembled an experienced team to assist with the procurement, design, construction and information dissemination for a combined heat and power (CHP) project at the EMMC facility located in Bangor Maine. Team members include Eastern Maine Medical Center, Cianbro Construction Corporation, Vanderweil Engineers, Solar Turbines, Inc. and the International District Energy Association. In July of 2003, Vanderweil completed a comprehensive feasibility study to determine the benefits associated with utilizing combined heat and power (CHP) at the Eastern Maine Medical Center facility. The study was commissioned to address specific concerns of the hospitals that are representative of most acute care medical facilities located in the Northeast, including several EMHS member hospitals. Major concerns include:
- High energy costs & Utility reliability
- Fuel use diversity & Diverse thermal heating load profile
- Need for additional steam and chilled water capacity
- Emissions compliance
- The need to deliver services under any climatic condition
The EMMC facility is an acute care, non-profit community hospital that began operations in 1892. It serves as a referral hospital for the largest geographical area of any hospital in the Northeast. In recent years the northeast has experienced several major ice storms that have caused catastrophic damage to the utility infrastructure with extended utility outages. It was determined in the feasibility study that the new CHP system in conjunction with the existing diesel standby generators would allow the hospital full operations during a major and prolonged utility outage event. In addition, the high cost of energy in the Northeast has contributed to the escalating cost of healthcare. EMMC decided to move forward with the development of a CHP facility identified in the 2003 feasibility study.
Recovered thermal will be used 12 months of the year for heating and cooling. The addition of an absorption chiller utilizes the excess thermal produced by the CHP system during the summer months increasing system efficiency and further reducing the summer electric peak demand. This diverse thermal profile is indicative of health care facilities located in the northeast. The identified CHP system was projected to save over $1.0 million dollars annually in energy costs with a payback of less than 5 years. Additional benefits include reduced emissions, increased thermal and heating capacity and emergency backup power. Savings from the project will have a direct impact on healthcare costs. The CHP project at EMMC has the full support from many organizations and legislators. These include:
• International District Energy Association (IDEA)
• Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management
• The Honorable Susan M. Collins, United States Senator
• The Honorable Michael H. Michaud, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Olympia Snowe, United States Senator
The project team prepared a technical approach that addressed the major concerns of the hospital and employed innovative technology to reduce construction costs. The project utilized pre-engineered integrated systems and modular building construction. The gas turbine, HRSG, breaching and main stack were supplied by Solar Turbines and Deltak respectively. Pre-wired on-skid controls supplied by Solar reduced installation time and on-site labor. Modular construction was utilized wherever possible, further reducing project costs. The goal was to replicate the EMMC system at other health care facilities throughout the Northeast. Information gained from this project will help reduce future project costs and construction time making CHP more economically viable at other locations.
The project team also put together an aggressive “Project Dissemination Plan” which utilizes the resources of all team partners. The International District Energy Association (IDEA) will serve as team partner to provide widespread, effective and timely dissemination of project information. The Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems IS department will create and maintain a project web site in conjunction with CDH Energy. Once the system is operational it will provide real-time operating information, EMMC, Cianbro and Vanderweil will also assist with the dissemination of project information through their many associations, in-house marketing and business development groups. We believe the project information dissemination plan created by the project team members will aid in the replication efforts for CHP in the region. The project team has been in contact with a number of hospitals and universities that could take advantage of the lessons learned and knowledge gained from the EMMC project.