Friday Focus: Update on combined heat and power plant
May 13, 2021
— by Julie Queen, vice chancellor for administrative services
The last time I provided an update on UAF’s combined heat and power plant was in January 2020. Back then we were still in the construction and commissioning phase (i.e., building and testing), and the plant had not yet moved to full operations. Over a year later, I am delighted to share some updates about the progress and operations of the CHPP, including a new partnership opportunity.
The plant itself has moved from commissioning to full operations. This is a milestone to be celebrated for one of the most complex and large-scale capital projects in UAF (or UA) history. UAF continues to work on a few remaining items as part of overall plant completion but the campus has been running on heat and power from the new facility since Feb. 1, 2020.
CHPP is a 17-megawatt plant that is built to handle the Troth Yeddha’ Campus with room for growth for years to come. First and foremost, CHPP is a heat plant that generates steam heat for campus facilities. Second, it is a power plant that generates electricity for campus power, with backup from GVEA or generators in some specific locations when planned or unplanned outages occur. Utility operations also include water and wastewater management. Full campus utility needs typically consume about half of the full plant capacity, which varies by season (winter vs. summer).
Last month, UAF and Golden Valley Electric Association signed a one-year power purchase agreement that began on April 1, 2021. GVEA sought regulatory approval and received it in May 2021, which affirms the one-year timeline.
This arrangement is mutually beneficial and means UAF will sell power that GVEA agrees to purchase after campus needs are met. It will allow UAF to run the plant at higher loads so we can continue monitoring operations and plant efficiency as part of learning the new technology. GVEA will also add UAF to its suite of sources for purchasing power, and has committed to buy a minimum amount from UAF over this term. This allows for GVEA to use a local power producer when viable for them to do so. UAF has developed rates that directly cover incremental costs for power production. UAF estimates this will generate new revenue, contributing to lower utility costs on campus and positively impacting Troth Yeddha’ Campus customers.
We are excited to engage with GVEA in a new way as partners. In this experimental one-year period, UAF will be further examining our utility needs on campus including if additional cost savings can be achieved by adjusting how we manage backup power, what our tolerance or risk is for outages, and how we plan for and achieve business continuity in the event of unplanned outages.
I want to thank the Facilities Services team for their dedication to this project and work to not only move CHPP to full operations, but to consider how we run the plant, if we can run it in a less costly way, and how to meet UAF utility and budgetary needs. This is an ongoing effort and I’ll continue to update our UAF community as new strategies are developed.
Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week. On occasion, a guest writer is invited to contribute a column.