The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

Generator to supply clean energy

Thanks to a new heating and electricity generator, the U will be more environmentally friendly after this month.

A new steam co-generation system will supply more than 10 percent of the U’s electricity needs and produce heat for most of lower campus.

“It’s not only a more energy-efficient system, but it will eventually pay for itself in energy savings,” said Stephen Laraway, manager of the co-generation project.

The co-generator uses a turbine to spin the generator, supplying campus with electricity and heat. The system then captures the excess gas, instead of expelling it into the atmosphere, and uses it to heat all of lower campus for most of the year. The gas heats water that runs through pipes to generate heat in buildings on lower campus.

Plant operations began investigating co-generators three years ago because they wanted to supply cheap and sustainable heat and electricity. The new system costs $18.3 million, but could potentially save $2.8 million annually on electricity and heating costs. The system will likely pay for itself within the next 12 years, and then begin saving the U money, said Orfeo Kostrencich, associate director for plant operations.

The new co-generators will also boost plant operations’ energy efficiency from 75 percent to more than 90 percent.

“With just a little more natural gas, we can heat the entire campus on this one system,” Laraway said.

The generator might be a stepping stone to other clean energy technology, said Jen Colby, the U’s sustainability coordinator.

“In the future, one of the major challenges will be reducing our energy consumption — this is a really big step in the right direction,” she said.

The system has added benefits that make it more sustainable than the one Utah State University has, because it reduces the amount of nitrous oxide gases emitted into the air, Laraway said. The gases, which most heating and electricity systems emit into the air, will be reduced by almost half.

Most buildings along lower campus will be closed Sunday while the system is installed. The whole electrical system must be shut down to make installation safe for workers.

“You wouldn’t take the bulb out of a light without first turning the light off unless you want to be electrocuted,” Laraway said. “We’re shutting down power for the same reason.”

The system will be located in the plant operations building across from the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

The co-generator won’t provide electricity for the U for another two months while tests are run.

[email protected]

After a three-year investigation, the U will start the new energy-efficient generator this Sunday. The new steam generator will supply more than 10 percent of the U’s electricity.

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *