January 15, 2010

NYSERDA-Funding Supports New Cornell Power Plant Designed to Cut Pollution and Reduce Energy Costs

New System Increases System Reliability, Provides Secure Backup for Power Emergencies

Cornell University today unveiled a new electric generating system partially funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) that will cut its energy costs, significantly reduce its coal consumption and greenhouse gas pollution, and increase its system reliability by capturing waste heat to generate electricity. NYSERDA provided $1 million towards the $82 million project and is helping 150 New York businesses and institutions install highly–efficient on–site electric generating systems like the one at Cornell.

“Cornell has taken a leadership role among colleges and universities nationwide to reduce its carbon footprint and become a model of environmental consciousness and activism,” said Francis J. Murray, president and CEO of NYSERDA. “With the significant investment they have made in this electric generating system, they will cut their energy costs, provide more secure backup for their critical operations, and demonstrate the kind of foresight needed to address energy challenges of the future.”

The system will allow Cornell to reduce its annual coal consumption by 65,000 tons and reduce its annual greenhouse gas pollution by 75,000 tons. In addition to allowing Cornell to more efficiently supplement power they receive from the power grid, the new system will provide secure backup to support essential campus services in the case of a grid outage.

For the last decade, NYSERDA has promoted the process Cornell is using to capture waste heat in its on–site generating system (called co–generation or Combined Heat and Power (CHP)), to help industrial, commercial, institutional, and multifamily residential facilities generate cleaner and more–efficient electrical power, improve industrial production, and optimize buildings’ heating and cooling processes. Over the past ten years, NYSERDA has provided more than $100 million in funding to help facilities benefit by installing co–generation systems.

James Adams, Director of Utilities and Energy at Cornell said: “Over the years Cornell has been pleased to team with NYSERDA on numerous energy conservation projects. We are grateful for NYSERDA's significant assistance in the planning and implementation of combined heat and power technology at Cornell. This is an important step in our efforts to serve our campus community in a much more sustainable way.”

NYSERDA has provided more than $10 million of funding to Cornell for energy initiatives over the past decade including $2 million in funding for development of NYSERDA’s program for agricultural waste digesters that capture methane from manure to power on–farm electricity generation. It also has provided incentives for new green building enhancements on the campus and testing of air emissions equipment in the central power station.

NYSERDA provides energy–related technical and financial assistance to promote energy efficiency and economic development, as well as administering energy research and development programs that promote safe and economical energy production and technology initiatives in New York State.

CONTACT: Jeffrey Gordon, NYSERDA
518–862–1090 ext. 3544
jrg@nyserda.ny.gov