Industry
News
University Gets Refund for
Cogen Plant
New Jersey’s Gloucester County
Times reported Jan. 20, 2006, that Rowan
University’s new $11 million cogeneration
plant has earned a $1 million refund from
the New Jersey Clean Energy Program
because of the significant greenhouse gas
emissions reductions it is expected to generate. The Clean Energy Program is sponsored by the state Board of Public Utilities
and managed by South Jersey Gas.
Due to be completed in fall 2006, the
plant is being constructed near the facility
it is designed to replace. The high-efficien-cy facility is anticipated to produce 80 per-
cent of Rowan University’s electricity as
well as steam for heating, hot water and
air conditioning. The new system should
save the university $1.2 million in annual
energy costs.
Rowan is among 54 colleges and universities that have signed a New Jersey
Higher Education Partnership for
IDEA, Korea District Heating Association Sign Cooperation Agreement
Groups pledge to collaborate on energy research, information exchange
The International District Energy Association
(IDEA) and the Korea District Heating Association
(KDHA) have entered into a formal cooperation
agreement, pledging to collaborate on research
activities and the exchange of technological information and business practices. The agreement was
signed March 16 at the U.S. Department of
Commerce offices in Washington, D.C., by Robert
P. Thornton, chief executive officer and president,
IDEA, and Young-Nam Kim, chief executive officer
and president, KDHA.
The signing ceremony was hosted by Michelle
O'Neill, deputy under secretary for international
trade, who oversees the U.S. Department of
Commerce’s International Trade Administration.
(For more on ITA, see www.ita.doc.gov.)
The cooperation agreement, or ‘memorandum
of understanding,’ states the organizations will
exchange information in the areas of district heating and cooling and renewable energy; designate
managers to implement and coordinate collaboration; and work together to establish an IDEA Far
East chapter to be based in Seoul, South Korea.
The chapter’s goal will be facilitating the exchange
of technical and industry information and assisting
IDEA members in better serving the global district
energy community.
IDEA initiated the agreement with the KDHA as
part of its participation in the U.S. Department of
Commerce Market Development Cooperator
Program. In 2005 IDEA received a grant through the
department’s International Trade Administration to
help small- and medium-sized U.S. member companies provide goods and services in the Middle East,
China and Korea.
According to IDEA’s Thornton, Korea is a strategic market sector for the exchange and promotion
of U.S. technologies, products and services in the
Michelle O'Neill, Deputy Under Secretary,
International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, hosted the signing
of the cooperation agreement between the
International District Energy Association, represented by President Robert P. Thornton (left),
and the Korean District Heating Association,
represented by Young-Nam Kim (right), president and CEO of both the Korea District
Heating Association and the Korea District
Heating Corporation.
global expansion of district cooling, district heating
and combined heat and power. In particular,
Korean district energy companies are interested in
district cooling system development and the integration of renewable and fuel-flexible technologies
like wood waste, biomass and landfill gas for district energy facilities. U.S. systems can learn from
Korean experience in serving large blocks of residential buildings and integrating multiple heat
sources into larger district networks.
KDHA President Kim also serves as president
and chief executive officer of Korea District
Heating Corp. (KDHC), a large utility company that
owns, operates and manages 14 district heating
systems in greater Seoul, South Korea. In 2005
KDHC had annual revenues of 487.5 billion won
(more than $501 million). The company is seeking
to expand its business with the goal of providing
district cooling and heating services to 1. 5 million
households nationwide by 2015 and generating
annual sales of 1. 5 trillion won (more than $1.5
billion).
Copyright James Tkatch.
In 2002, the energy-saving effect of KDHC’s
district energy system was a 53 percent reduction
in fuel consumption in its service area – approximately 663,000 tons carbon dioxide – compared
with conventional heating systems, resulting in
$342 million of avoided fuel costs. Additional environmental benefits of KDHC’s system included a
23 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
compared with conventional heating systems –
approximately 1 million tons of sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide and dust, plus 49 percent less carbon
dioxide.
Kim was joined at the agreement signing by
other representatives of the Korean district energy
industry, including Tae-Il Han, vice president, KDHC;
Kwi Hyun Kahng, manager, KDHC; and Dong-Kyu
Park, commercial attaché of the Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Energy of Korea.
While in the U.S. for the signing, the Korean delegation visited three district energy facilities to gain
insight into the integration of combined heat and
power and broader business opportunities for
large-scale district cooling: Consolidated Edison’s
660 MW combined heat and power facility in New
York City, home to the world’s largest district steam
system; the General Services Administration’s
Central Heating and Refrigeration Facility, which
serves more than 100 buildings with district heating service and multiple buildings with district cooling service in downtown Washington, D.C.; and
Thermal Chicago Corp., the largest district cooling
system in the U.S., with more than 100,000 tons of
cooling capacity, serving buildings in Chicago’s
downtown Loop.
