News

Chino Hospital Adopts Co-Gen On-Site Power System

April 06, 2003 by Jeff Shepard

Chino Valley Medical Center (Chino, CA) announced that it expects to save thousands of dollars each month in energy costs with a new on-site power system that will supply 75 percent of the hospital's electrical and thermal energy. The hospital's on-site power system includes communication and monitoring software, engine controls, and electrical grid-interconnection switchgear from Encorp Inc. (Windsor, CO).

Powered by three Lean-One™ 260kW cogeneration systems by BluePoint Energy Inc. (Granite Bay, CA), a publicly held manufacturer of co-generation systems, the hospital's new on-site system will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week and supplement power from Southern California Edison. In addition to generating electricity when needed, the system will use waste engine heat to make hot water. The hospital, in turn, will use the hot water for laundry, sterilization and other uses.

Through the project, the hospital joins the US Power Network, a national network of private power plants that supply less-expensive electrical power and thermal energy to customers. US Power Network will own and operate the three co-generation systems and sell electricity the systems produce to the hospital at a rate lower than the local utility. The project should be fully operational this summer.