District Energy CHP - Crawford Central School District
Project Overview
This project consists of a biomass boiler system to be constructed centrally between three public buildings; Meadville Area High School/Middle School (MASH/MS), Crawford County Area Vocational Technical School (Vo-Tech), and the Meadville Area Recreation Complex (MARC). The project will include a boiler room and a small biomass storage bin with a staging area that will have connections to walking-floor trailers for additional storage. The system will produce steam and run a condensing turbine to generate onsite electric. The waste heat from the turbine will be utilized to supply existing domestic hot water and space heat systems via a system of hydronic pipes and heat exchangers that run to each of the three facilities. Natural gas heating systems currently operating in the three facilities will be maintained as a back-up to be used in extremely cold weather. The project will replace over 85% of the existing natural gas fuel usage and provide over 450,000 kWh of onsite electric generation. The annual electric and gas fuel savings to be realized by the project is estimated at over $200,000. The total installed cost of this system is estimated at $2 Million.
The boards of the three facilities voted unanimously to move forward and have an operational agreement in place for implementation of the project. Funding for the project has been secured through a combination of grants and low interest loans. Bids have been received for the biomass boiler and the project is on schedule for completion in the fall of 2010.
Services Provided
The project required the preparation of a feasibility study of a biomass district heating system for the three‐building complex. The feasibility study included: exploring CHP technologies; identifying an appropriate option; developing cash flow and life‐cycle cost analysis to evaluate economic viability; and evaluating funding mechanisms including industry support, grant dollars, and low interest loans. When the recommended option was adopted, grant and financing applications were prepared and submitted on behalf of the Client.
WES is providing engineering consulting services to assist the Committee in implementation of the project. These services include:
- Development of solicitations for A/E firms
- Development of specifications for:
- Furnace, chip storage, distribution system, thermal storage, building dimensions, and controls and output monitoring for the three entities
- Air quality permitting
- Overall review of bid documents
- Assistance in development of biomass fuel specifications and a chip supply contract
- Indefinite delivery of project support, including:
- Construction inspection, project reporting, development of supporting documents for grants, development of scopes for A/E firms, marketing of carbon credits, and addressing environmental aspects.
Project at a glance
Project Cost: $2.0 million
Estimated Annual Value: $200,000
% Grant Funding: 25%
Project Size: 8.5 mmBtu/h, 150 kWe
Status: Under construction
Additional Benefits:
- >1800 Mg CO2/y emissions reductions
- Provides RE education opportunities
- Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)
