Educational Plant Maintenance Association of Maine 42 nd Annual Conference Colby College

1. Educational Plant Maintenance Association of Maine42nd Annual ConferenceColby College • District-wide heating with Bio-mass • Mike McCormick, CPE • President and CEO • New England Energy Solutions

2. Biography • New England Energy Solutions was created to address escalating energy costs • Invested heavily in wood to energy • Currently involved in more than 20 major wood energy projects • Prime consultant & lead on a 630 connected load community heat project • Prime consultant on 2 industrial park CHP • Been to Europe to see how it works • Speak and present to many groups and organizations regarding wood energy

3. What is district heating? • District heating, also known as central or community heating, is simply the connection of more than one building to a common heating plant or source of heat. • Generally, a heating medium is piped via underground pipe distribution system, then connected to the end user facility. • Could be steam, hot water, or oil.

4. How long has it been around? • District heating is not new, in fact the hot water baths and greenhouses of the ancient Roman Empire were heated in this manner. • One system in France has been in continuous operation since the 14th century. • The Naval Academy in Annapolis began steam district heating service in 1853.

5. How long has it been around? New York City has used steam district heating since 1882 and is the largest in the world. Dartmouth College in NH first used wood in 1895. St. Paul, MN went online in 2005, 25MW cogen & cooling, serves 20,000 customers in a downtown setting.

6. 25 MW plant serving 20,000 customers located in the middle of the City

7. Advantages of district heat • Huge energy savings for fuel • Reduced operational costs, 1 plant • Less volatility of fossil fuel fluctuations • Reduces emissions • Keeps 85% of fuel revenues local

8. What equipment is needed?

10. Equipment • 1.Bio mass fired heat generation device

11. Equipment

12. Equipment • Distribution network

13. Equipment • Typical • building • connection

14. Equipment • Heat transfer devices Flat plate exchanger Energy transfer station

15. Equipment • Metering All meters connected to real-time metering system with web interface. Additional meters can also be connected (water, electric, etc)

16. Other equipment that can be included • Absorption chillers Electrical generation, thermal oil or turbine Cooling and dehumidification

17. Other equipment that can be included to bolster capacity

18. Why? • Peak oil was reached in 2010, out by 2047

19. Why?

20. Why?

21. Fuel Dollar Savings

22. What type of design? • Must decide if thermal only or CHP? • Will there be cooling load? • Will it operate year round or heating season only? • Based on the above, thermal lead or electric lead? • Wood only or dual fuel? • What % will wood produce?

23. Moving forward • Establish a budget to move concept forward • Select a team with district heat experience • Full engineering and feasibility studies is what is needed but pricey • Perhaps start with a “pre-feasibility” study

24. Getting started • Scope of Work • for a • “pre-feasibility” study • of a community heating project • and possible electrical generation

25. Scope of Work • Determine scope and scale of project • Consider inclusion of major institutions and business • Determine fuel type(s) • Identify long term, locally sourced, environmentally • sustainable fuel source • Assessment of appropriate systems • Maximizing energy efficiency & environmental sustainability • Cost comparison between biomass & existing fossil fuel systems • Consider impact on local HVAC & fuel providers • Boiler siting & fuel storage & handling • Identify complementary technologies & fuel, such • as solar, geothermal, methane, wind, or other

26. Scope of Work continued • Communicate w/public re: costs & benefits of a • local distributed energy system • Return on investment time frame w/ alternative • energy comparisons • Opportunities for new businesses: greenhouse, cold • storage, pellet mfg, other • Opportunities for summer cooling • Identify financing opportunities • Estimated costs associated w/ each system

27. Is it feasible? • Deliver reports for group discussion • Present to community or decision makers • Final design • Funding • Construction • Start saving $$$$$$$ • Energy independence

28. Wood fuels There are differing grades of fuel available depending on your needs and desired operational outcomes. Premium quality chips (our best) Mid-grade quality chips (our 2nd best) Low-grade quality chips (our 3rd best) Bio-mass chips (our 4th best) All of the above grades will work in most high quality boilers, especially gasifiers. The difference will be the heat output and amount of tending to the boiler by the boiler operator; the lower grades may require more tube cleaning and ash disposal. Even with the slight additional costs of human intervention, the lower grades are worth considering as significant heat savings will more than offset the additional man hours.

29. Thank you…. Burn Maine wood NOT Foreign oil and create Maine jobs too!