A new pre-packaged ‘plug and play’ co-generation energy plant will be installed at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst to reduce costs and the University’s carbon footprint.

 

The CSU Division of Facilities Management (DFM) has awarded a contract to Clarke Energy (Australia) to supply and install a high-efficiency co-generation plant for CSU which will reduce the energy imported from the grid while offsetting heat loads from existing dedicated boilers.

 

Mr Ed Maher, manager of CSU Green, said, “Awarding the contract to Clarke Energy for the delivery of a co-generation solution at the University in Bathurst represents an exciting step in a multi-faceted strategy for achieving the University’s target to achieve a 25 per cent reduction in normalised energy consumption and be greenhouse neutral by 2015.

 

“The co-generation facility will supply approximately 65 per cent of the electricity requirements of the campus in Bathurst, and is forecast to achieve a seven per cent reduction to the University’s carbon footprint. It also offers operational cost savings by providing a cheaper source of electricity and hot water to conventional grid and central boiler-sourced supplies, and will supplement existing gas-fired boilers and reduce the overall energy consumption for the campus.”

 

The co-generation plant will be driven by a GE Jenbacher J312 containerised gas engine generator producing up to 637kWe of electrical output. In addition, 705kWt of recovered thermal energy will be delivered to the existing campus hot water network as hot water at 95°C for the purposes of heating buildings and supplying domestic hot water demands.

 

“The GE Jenbacher gas engine will be packaged in a pre-engineered ‘plug and play’ containerised co-generation module which includes all of the required ancillary components,” Mr Maher said. “This factory tested and pre-commissioned package is a cost-effective solution which minimizes the time required for onsite assembly and commissioning.”

 

The new power generator will be established in the former coal-powered heating plant (building S9) behind the student union building (C4), and the first on-site meeting of CSU and Clarke Energy representatives is at 1 pm Monday 16 September. The facility is due to start operating in mid 2014.