Scarborough Businesses in the News

Town of Scarborough Improves Efficiency with Tri-Generation System

Friday, November 6, 2015

SCARBOROUGH, MAINE (November 3, 2015) — A ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the startup of a new combined heat and power tri-generation system at Scarborough’s Town Hall will be held on Tuesday, November 10 at 11:30 a.m. The Town of Scarborough has undertaken a new project that involves providing power to its Town Hall building in a whole new way. The building is in progress of changing over from a traditional electricity, heating, and cooling system to a combined heat and power system using what is called a tri-generation configuration. This new system will help to manage costs, improve energy efficiency, increase energy infrastructure resiliency, and reduce carbon emissions.

The decision to install this state-of-the art system came out of the cost reduction goal in the 2011 Comprehensive Energy Plan for the Town. This project was a key strategy in this plan, which was developed by the Town’s Energy Committee; the group has been working continuously to create a power generation capacity in the Town to reduce its reliance on market sources and reduce overall energy costs.

“The short return on this investment made it an obvious priority for the Town, and the savings on energy costs will get exponentially better when the system provides for the heating, cooling, and electrical needs of the future Public Safety Building,” said Scarborough Town Manager, Thomas Hall. “We hope other communities and businesses see the potential of these systems and the significant savings that accrue, and we are proud to show leadership in energy conservation and cost reduction.”

Making the transition to this new system required installing a natural gas fired 150 kW Kraft Power Systems combined heat and power unit. At this size, the system will be capable of handling future expansions at the Town Hall building, including the addition of the town’s new public safety building that is to be constructed on adjacent property. The overall system, designed by Self-Gen, an integrated energy solutions and services company based in Scarborough, will include the Kraft CHP unit, an absorption chiller and cooling tower for cooling, hot and chilled water piping systems integrated into the existing building, and a control system linked to the existing building’s automation system.

Paul Aubrey, president of Self-Gen, was enthusiastic about the project’s expected outcome, saying: “As an individual and company that resides in Scarborough and pays taxes, we were extremely excited to lead this project to provide long term energy cost savings, improved efficiency, and resiliency for the Town.  It was a great team effort by my staff, the Town, Efficiency Maine, and everyone involved to work towards bringing the project to completion and realizing the long term benefits.”

Bruce Gullifer, Scarborough’s Community Services Director, served as Project Manager.  In addition to working with Self-Gen, who designed and managed the project and provided oversight for the construction of the new system, the project required cooperation with various other firms. Cianbro, a construction services firm based in Pittsfield, ME, provided mechanical and electrical installation services, and Kraft Power supplied the actual combined heat and power unit. Woodard & Curran, a Portland-based integrated engineering, science, and operations company, acted as the town’s engineer and representative to review, inspect, oversee, and approve all aspects of the project. They were also responsible for administrating all aspects of the Efficiency Maine Grant program, which provided partial funding for this project.

Dan Kelley, Woodard & Curran’s Energy & Power Engineering Service Line Leader noted the complexities of working on a project like this, but expects a positive result for the town, saying: “Even though this technology and its applications have been proven and around for decades, it is new to municipal settings, and everyone goes through a learning curve before having the comfort level to move forward. I give Tom Hall, his staff, and the Energy Committee the credit on being trailblazers willing to move on a project like this. They saw the long-term benefits with cost savings and greenhouse gas reductions surpassed any concerns or reservations while also laying the groundwork for future expansions.”

The tri-generation system is expected to provide 100% of the Town Hall’s electricity, 100% of its heating in the winter, and 80% of its cooling in the summer, adding up to an estimated $40,000 a year in energy cost savings. The excess electrical output will be used under a Net Metering agreement with Central Maine Power to reduce electrical consumption at other town facilities, as well. Using a tri-generation system is a large part of the town’s energy management strategy for municipal buildings, which will allow for more control over their long-term energy costs and reduce exposure to changes in energy prices.

Using the metrics provided during the completion of a preliminary energy balance, the town estimates the project can achieve 50% overall energy savings for the Town Hall. They anticipate that savings could be even greater depending on the costs, revenues, and tax credits realized by the project.