VA To Install Renewable Energy System in Vermont
$11.5 Million Recovery Funds to Build Energy Plant
WASHINGTON – In support of ongoing energy efficiency and renewable energy use, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded an $11.5 million contract to install a renewably fueled central energy plant at White River Junction VA Medical Center in Vermont, using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding.
“We expect this funding to lead to great opportunities for VA to reduce its environmental footprint,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. “Our health care facilities use large amounts of energy, and renewable technologies will help our efforts to transition to cleaner, greener energy sources.”
The system to be installed, a 250-kilowatt combined cooling, heating and power plant, features highly efficient generation of electricity, steam and chilled water to meet facility needs. It will run on wood waste, displacing fuel oil that the medical center currently uses. VA estimates the system will supply up to 17 percent of the medical center’s electricity needs and up to half of its steam requirements, with chilled water from the system supplying a significant portion of the facility’s air conditioning needs. The installation is planned to be completed by spring 2012.
VA selected the site based on results from feasibility studies that were performed to determine the ideal locations for VA to invest in on-site renewable energy projects. VA already has one renewably fueled central energy plant at Mountain Home VA Medical Center in Johnson City, Tenn. That system uses waste methane from a nearby municipal landfill.
VA’s goal is to increase renewable energy consumption to 15 percent of annual electricity usage by 2013. The installation of this renewably fueled system will help VA meet that goal.
VA has also awarded Recovery Act funds to install a similar renewably fueled energy plant at Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta, Maine; a geothermal renewable energy project at St. Cloud, Minn., VA Medical Center; a wind turbine at Bourne, Mass., National Cemetery; solar photovoltaic systems at the medical centers in Albuquerque, N.M., Tucson, Ariz., and Dublin, Ga., and at Calverton National Cemetery in Long Island, N.Y., and San Joaquin National Cemetery in Santa Nella, Calif.
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