AIKEN, S.C., – As part of a collaborative process between the Department of Energy (DOE), the Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC), and  Honeywell Building Solutions, the Savannah River Site (SRS) broke ground on a  new clean energy efficient steam plant today, the first of two energy infrastructure upgrade projects..

 In support of President Bush’s initiatives to increase clean energy use at federal agencies, SRS will replace a 1950s vintage coal-powered steam plant with a clean, renewable plant powered by biomass that will provide an efficient, long-term, reliable source of steam to the Site’s A Area.  The new plant will contribute significantly toward the Department meeting  President Bush’s January 2007 Executive Order on Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management. 

 “President Bush has made increasing the use of clean energy to power our homes, vehicles and business a priority.  today we’re furthering the President’s priorities by breaking ground on a facility that will provide steam to power industrial processes and provide heat/cooling to part of SRS using clean renewable biomass,” said Jeffrey Allison, DOE’s Savannah River Operations Office Manager.  “The A Area energy improvement project and another one planned for D Area are among the largest within DOE and will contribute significantly toward the goals of the Department to lead by example in the areas of energy management and efficiency.  The overall goal of the projects is to make it self sustaining by utilizing only renewable biomass waste products from within the SRS for its fuel sources.”

Starting in 2008, the A Area plant will provide stream for industrial uses to the Savannah River National Laboratory, a few administrative facilities and the Dynamic Underground Stripping (DUS) Project, a groundwater cleanup technology. 

 This construction is being funded and managed under a unique agreement that allows SRS to repay the project costs over a period of nine years.  The estimated capital cost of the project is approximately $14 million, with an average projected savings of $1.5 million per year.  Savings generated from the new system will be used to pay the total costs of the project.

 Construction of the new plant is expected to begin prior to August 2007 with a projected completion date of August 2008.  Until that time, the existing coal-fired boilers will continue to supply steam to the site’s A Area.  The second upgrade project in the D Area and K Area is scheduled for completion in late Fiscal Year 2009.

 Honeywell has proposed the A Area Steam Plant replacement as an energy conservation measure, which involves the construction of two new 30,000 lbs/hr steam boilers to replace the existing coal-fired boilers.  The current plant, installed in 1951, is too large for today’s reduced A Area steam requirements, resulting in venting and reduced plant efficiency; the boiler plant is also past its useful life, requiring additional maintenance and repair. 

 It is the Site’s intent that the biomass or wood-fired boiler will be primarily supplied from wood chips from waste generated by SRS forest management activities, under the direction of the U.S. Forest Service-Savannah River Site.  The new system will result in lower environmental emissions, less energy consumption, lower operating and maintenance costs, and compliance with new Clean Air and Water Act Standards.

 One of the new boilers will be wood-fired and will provide the majority of the steam required for the area.  The other will be a standby, fuel-oil fired boiler that will operate during maintenance periods for the wood-fired boiler and during peak steam demand times. 

 But SRS is not stopping there and is continuing growing in the renewable energy initiatives.  About 75 percent of our light duty fleet have been converted to alternative fuel (Ethanol).  In 1999, we opened two ethanol fueling stations on site.  All our alternative fuel vehicles are required to use ethanol when fueling onsite. In addition, the General Service Administration has allocated one of its first hybrid vehicles to SRS.  A welcome step to help meet the president’s goal to reduce gasoline use twenty percent in ten years.

SR-07-05

DOE