Project Description
Energy Resilient Infrastructure – Long Term Islanding Using Landfill Gas
Energy resilient infrastructure thermal energy is supplied as steam to an MCLB central plant to offset the standalone natural gas-derived generation of steam for distribution throughout the installation. Biogas is used in a combination of boilers and a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to afford MCLB maximum flexibility for fuel switching. This Multi-Fuel / Multi-Unit / Multi-System strategy maintains availabilities of thermal energy supplied to critical loads at high levels. Thermal generators consist of two 12.5 MMBtu boilers and one 5.5 MMBtu HRSG in addition to the existing boiler plant, which remains intact for purposes of system redundancy. Biogas boilers have fuel mixing capabilities to accommodate steam production with varying ratios of biogas and natural gas.
The project also provides energy resilient infrastructure benefits since it displaces 19 percent of the Base’s purchased natural gas and electricity, and also reduces the Base’s energy intensity by 16 percent. This reduction in baseline energy use, combined with microgrid-enabled distributed generation, provides for increased energy security and reliability. The renewable energy microgrid can operate in parallel with the utility grid or in island mode, and can run using either straight LFG or with an LFG-natural gas blend. In the event of an electrical grid outage, the generator can operate on 100 percent natural gas, providing onsite power to support critical requirements and loads. Additional details for the project are shown below