UCI would generate its own power

Marisa O’Neil

Schools officials want to build a power plant on campus that would

provide electricity, hot water and big savings.

The UC Board of Regents this week approved a plant for the campus

that would allow it to generate its own power. UCI still needs to get

funds from the state to build it.

“We still have to get the money allocated,” said Paul Howland,

director of plant operations for UCI. “This is a major milestone, but

we don’t have the money yet.”

The campus has a plant that heats and cools water. Once UCI

receives the funds, it will build a cogeneration plant.

Cogeneration plants, Howland said, use natural gas to run a

generator and produce electricity. As the plant produces electricity,

it creates steam as a by-product.

The steam can then be used to heat water, meaning the campus would

not have to pay extra money to run a separate plant for that purpose.

Other UC campuses, including Berkeley and San Diego, already have

cogeneration plants up and running.

“It was economically advantageous for us,” said John Dilliott,

manager of utilities and energy for the San Deigo campus. “Normally,

we burn natural gas in a boiler to make heat for the campus, then

import electricity from the grid. With cogeneration, we burn natural

gas in a generator and take waste steam for the hot water.”

Since the San Diego plant opened in 2001, Dilliott said, they have

seen an increase in efficiency from about 25% to 75%. He estimates

their savings at $8 million a year.

Besides saving money, he said, the plant is cleaner-burning than

traditional power plants.

“We put in a pollution control system that’s state of the art,” he

said. “Even though we’re burning two-and-a-half times more natural

gas, the emissions are still lower.”

Though cogeneration still makes the campus reliant on natural gas,

that they essentially get free hot water practically guarantees

savings.

UCI has researched natural gas prices, Howland said, and found

that they seem to be roughly on a par with electricity costs. But if

the campus generates its own power, it won’t be vulnerable to outside

outages.

Once the funds are allocated, UCI will award a contract to design

and build the plant. The university has some preliminary sketches,

but a contractor and designers will work together to make the final

plans.

The new plant will go in the same area as the present plant,

essentially piggy-backing on it.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.