Regents move forward with plan to build steam turbine to reduce UNM's energy dependence

The Board of Regents will spend $3 million to install a steam turbine that will provide energy for campus

The money comes from the $6 million cogeneration unit project the regents axed last week. The remaining $3 million will go toward renovating The Pit.

"The project that (the funds) were applied for, which is the cogeneration unit, did not seem to be economically feasible based on the price of natural gas," regent Carolyn Abeita said.

The steam turbine will be used primarily to heat buildings and make hot water on campus, said Steve Beffort, vice president of Institutional Support Services. It will also generate one to three megawatts of electricity as a byproduct, about 8 percent of the energy UNM needs.

The existing cogeneration unit creates more than six megawatts, and an existing steam turbine generates three, he said.

"The cogeneration unit, the turbine approach, is substantially more expensive … but it generates more electricity," Beffort said. "Since the costs had gone up on the turbine project, we came up with this other solution that would allow us to generate the steam that we need and generate the electricity as a byproduct for $3 million rather than $6 million."

Beffort said the steam turbine will be installed before December 2010.

UNM purchases the energy it does not produce on campus from PNM, he said. The University needs about 25 megawatts and currently produces about half of what it needs, he said.

"We will continue to need to buy power from PNM for the foreseeable future," he said.

Beffort said reducing dependence on PNM would help protect UNM from an unpredictable and risky energy market. He said using only locally generated energy throughout campus is part of a campus-wide sustainability initiative.

"We have a lot of research, and we have the hospital - we have a lot of high-risk situations here at the University," he said. "So the more self-sufficient we are, the greater degree of protection we provide for those high-risk situations."

Andrea Alberto Mammoli, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and member of the board that drafted the sustainability initiative, said reducing the amount of energy UNM receives from PNM would increase the University's efficiency.

"If we buy electricity from PNM, typically that's going to be generated at some remote, coal-fired power station," he said. "So they generate electricity at an efficiency of about 30 to 35 percent, and the rest has to be dissipated, generally into the atmosphere."

With the cogeneration process, Mammoli said, the excess heat is recycled.

"If we generate electricity locally, here at UNM … we could make our own electricity, and, on top of that, the heat is not wasted," he said. "The heat goes into making steam that is used on campus to heat buildings or make hot water."

Abeita said installing another steam turbine might slow UNM's transition to being self-sufficient but that it doesn't deemphasize it.

"Everybody is having to re-adjust and evaluate things in light of the resources and the outside market, like the price of natural gas," she said. "I don't believe that it changes the initiative. The goal is still there."

Beffort said the University is going to produce its own electricity by reducing consumption, allowing the existing cogeneration unit to provide a greater percentage of UNM's electricity.

He also said the University will pursue more cogeneration units when it is economically viable.

Mammoli said creating energy on campus is a good idea but that complete independence from PNM isolates UNM from the surrounding area.

"It makes sense to have an extra (steam turbine). It makes sense to have some of our own, but I don't know that it's entirely necessary to generate everything," he said. "Basically, we could provide electricity to our neighbors in case of need and to relieve some strain on the grid in times of high load."