By Healthcare Facilities Today

Geisinger Health System, based in Danville, Penn. with facilities throughout the state. has saved millions of dollars in energy costs by installing a combined heat and power (CHP) system that can also be better for the environment, according to a recent Keystone Edge article. 

Geisinger installed the cogeneration plant in its 2.6 million-square-foot main campus in Danville in 2010, with the help of ZF Energy Development LLC, an industrial energy utility and solutions company based in Wayne, Penn. 

According to the article, Geisinger added, among other elements, a combustion turbine to make electricity and a waste heat recovery boiler, from which steam is extracted. Combining chilled water storage, electric and steam boilers and conventional chillers, Geisinger can continuously save energy costs by monitoring the lowest energy prices and adapting the system to take advantage of them.

Alan Neuner, Geisinger’s vice president of facilities, said the initial cost of the cogeneration project was $5.3 million, but because the hospital received a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Green Energy Works Grant of $2.25 million and a PPL Act 129 Grant of $500,000, the net cost was only $2.55 million.

So far, the annual savings from using the new system is $2.2 million and the return on investment was 14 months. 

Read the article.