Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre celebrates new energy savings addition to central plant
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Thunder Bay Regional Health

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre celebrates new energy
savings addition to central plant
 


New combined heat and power plant will save $500,000 annually
 
  Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) celebrated its new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant which promises to reduce the hospital’s average annual electricity bills by a half million dollars.


 For the past two years, TBRHSC has been working with Thunder Bay Hydro and Johnson Controls to develop and implement the CHP project, which will be operational by the end of 2015. The project is not only beneficial to TBRHSC, but also the City of Thunder Bay and the people of Northwestern Ontario.
 
TBRHSC continues to grow due to increasing community demands and its role as an academic health sciences centre. The need exists to constantly evaluate realistic alternatives to today’s conventional approaches to meeting energy demands. The project will not only reduce
costs but also support the mandate of the Green Energy Act.
 
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is the simultaneous production of two different forms of energy, heat and electricity from a single input energy.  Heat recovered from the plant’s internal combustion engine is not released into the air as waste, but instead used to produce hot
water thereby eliminating the additional use of boilers and fuel.
 
“There are many benefits for not only the TBRHSC but also for the patients and families in Northwestern Ontario”, said Anne-Marie Heron, Executive Director of Capital Planning and Operations, TBRHSC. “The CHP project is expected to provide major energy and financial savings for TBRHSC that can be diverted to support patient care.”
 
The CHP plant will produce over 15,000 MWh (megawatt hours) of power and more than 50,000 MMBTU (million metric British thermal units) of heat per year. Additionally, the new plant also provides supplemental on-site generated electrical power in the event of an extended power
outage.  
 
“Hospitals by nature are high-energy consumers. This plant will help them deliver better care at a lower cost and we are proud to be a partner in that effort,” said Brian Del Vecchio, Senior Account Executive, Johnson Controls.
 
A multitude of benefits arise from this new effort.  The CHP project will provide major energy and financial savings for TBRHSC that can be diverted to support the treatment of patients and improve care.  Furthermore, the Northwestern Ontario region will economically benefit
directly as local contractors have boots on the ground implementing the project. In addition, long term required maintenance will be supported by local Thunder Bay resources.
  Bill Willis “ This power plant will allow savings of about $500,000 per year on electricity. We have been working on this project for 2 years and are glad to see it on schedule and complete by the end of the year. The electricity will be generated  with this generator by gas. The other benefit  is it produces heat as well which will help offset the heat needed for hot water.”

Anne- Marie Heron, Executive Director of Capital Planning and
Operations TBRHSC
  “ The project will cost $8 million but we are receiving 40% of the costs from Thunder Bay Hydro and the ISO. The utilities we use are around $5 million per year including power, gas and water. This unit will be a 2 megawatt unit. We undertook a energy cost review of the hospital and recognize this is a good opportunity to reduce our costs.”
   “ Another exciting opportunity is to supplement further power in the event of a power outage.”
   The hospital has a footprint of 750,000 square feet in size with three floors and a penthouse. There are over 3000 people working at this facility. Toromont is the vendor of the plant and all local sub trades were used on the project."



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