NJ Medical Center to Start Energy Project

BAYONNE, N.J. – The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) recently approved a $950,000 rebate for the Bayonne Medical Center’s Combined Heat and Power (CHP) project, which will allow the acute-care hospital to generate most of the facility’s hot water, cooling and electricity, and run independently off the grid.

The $3.5 million CHP project will specifically allow heat waste from the hospital’s generators to heat the medical center, saving about $500,000 in energy costs in the first year alone. This is similar to industry processes that might make use of High Temperature Heat Pumps to bring the waste heat/water to a workable temperature and re-use it, in a bid to improve energy efficiency and reduce expenditure.

A key reason for the 278-bed facility to participate in the project is the fact that the new technology will also make the hospital self-reliant during major power outages, such as the one it experienced when Hurricane Sandy struck in October. The medical center lost power for eight days and was required to operate on generator power.

When the CHP project is completed, the 1 MW system will produce an estimated 7.6 million kWh of electricity each year. Additionally, nearly 40,000 MMBtu of waste heat will be recovered, offsetting the need for the three existing dual-fuel boilers that currently supply the medical center’s hot water load.

The $950,000 rebate will be paid to the medical center in three phases: an initial $190,000 when the equipment is purchased, $570,000 when installation is completed and $190,00 a year after completion, guaranteeing that the minimum efficiency thresholds are achieved.

According to the BPU, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s administration encourages on-site distributive generation technologies such as CHP and Fuel Cells (FC) as a way to reduce the demand on the electric power grid, as well as lower energy bills. Plus, public facilities equipped with these technologies are able to provide the community with emergency services during and after a major crisis.

Currently, New Jersey has about 3,000 MW of CHP developed at more than 200 facilities and 1.5 MW of FC at eight facilities, with hopes of achieving an additional 1,500 MW of CHP capacity by 2020 as part of Gov. Christie’s Energy Master Plan.