Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre celebrates new energy savings addition to central plant

New combined heat and power plant will save $500,000 annually.

Today, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) celebrated its new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant which promises to reduce the hospital’s average annual electricity bills by a half million dollars.

For the past two years, TBRHSC has been working with Thunder Bay Hydro and Johnson Controls to develop and implement the CHP project, which will be operational by the end of 2015. The project is not only beneficial to TBRHSC, but also the City of Thunder Bay and the people of Northwestern Ontario.

TBRHSC continues to grow due to increasing community demands and its role as an academic health sciences centre. The need exists to constantly evaluate realistic alternatives to today’s conventional approaches to meeting energy demands. The project will not only reduce costs but also support the mandate of the Green Energy Act.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is the simultaneous production of two different forms of energy, heat and electricity from a single input energy. Heat recovered from the plant’s internal combustion engine is not released into the air as waste, but instead used to produce hot water thereby eliminating the additional use of boilers and fuel.

“There are many benefits for not only the TBRHSC but also for the patients and families in Northwestern Ontario”, said Anne-Marie Heron, Executive Director of Capital Planning and Operations, TBRHSC. “The CHP project is expected to provide major energy and financial savings for TBRHSC that can be diverted to support patient care.”

The CHP plant will produce over 15,000 MWh (megawatt hours) of power and more than 50,000 MMBTU (million metric British thermal units) of heat per year. Additionally, the new plant also provides supplemental on-site generated electrical power in the event of an extended power outage.

“Hospitals by nature are high-energy consumers. This plant will help them deliver better care at a lower cost and we are proud to be a partner in that effort,” said Brian Del Vecchio, Senior Account Executive, Johnson Controls.

A multitude of benefits arise from this new effort. The CHP project will provide major energy and financial savings for TBRHSC that can be diverted to support the treatment of patients and improve care. Furthermore, The Northwestern Ontario region will economically benefit directly as local contractors have boots on the ground implementing the project. In addition, long term required maintenance will be supported by local Thunder Bay resources.