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VA hospital to cut costs with $15m biomass CHP plant

Lockheed Martin has won a $15.2 million contract to provide a biomass-fueled combined heat and power plant for a hospital in New York State.

The deal funded by federal stimulus money, was awarded by the US Department of Veterans Affairs for the installation at the VA Medical Center in Canandaigua.

The facility will use biomass byproducts, including woodchips and bark salvaged from local lumber yards and logging operations, to generate energy in two steam boilers using gasification technology.

Technology giant Lockheed Martin will build, install and test the biomass CHP plant, and train the VA staff on maintaining it.

Engineering firm Whiting Turner will work with Lockheed on the construction of the facility, and on integrating it with the medical center.

Steven Bolewski, VA network energy manager, said the project was part of the Department’s commitment to cutting energy costs and generating power on-site, using renewable resources.

Mr Bolewski said: “Using locally available biomass as an energy source will allow the VA to avoid costly swings in energy prices that detract from its mission of caring for veterans while reducing our total carbon cycle emissions.”

Savings

Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland, has its own biomass plant in Owego, NY, and the new Canandaigua plant will have the same configuration.

The company said the Owego facility had switched from fuel oil to woodchips in 2008, cutting heating and cooling bills in half and reducing its carbon footprint by 25%.

“We recognize the critical need to reduce the country’s dependency on fossil fuels and significantly increase clean energy generation,” said Chris Myers, Lockheed Martin vice president for energy and government programs. “The success of our biomass system demonstrates our ability to design cost efficient, renewable energy systems, helping to secure a clean energy future.”