District Energy - 2010 Second Quarter

Industry
News
OAO Fortum General Director
Alexander Chuvaev said, “During 2009-
2012, we will invest 3 billion rubles ($99.8
million) in improving energy efficiency. An
additional 1. 5 billion rubles (approximately
$50 million) for the implementation of
the program will be collected from district
heating tariffs.”
Fortum is also planning to implement a
number of technical improvements at power
plants in the Chelyabinsk region to increase
the efficiency of heat and electricity produc-
tion. In addition, the company has launched
a sustainability program aiming to reduce
environmental impacts both around the
power plants and in the region as a whole.

Software Further Improving
System Performance

Optimum Energy LLC announced Feb. 8 that it has implemented its OptimumHVAC™ software at The University of Texas at Austin (UTA) with results that have exceeded expectations. The energy efficiency software is being used in Chilling Station 6 of UTA’s district cooling system – one of four plants within the university’s 46,000-ton system serving the campus’s 17 million sq ft of building space. Chilling Station 6 was the first 100

percent variable-speed drive plant of this size commissioned by Johnson Controls. With OptimumHVAC, the annual wire-to-water performance range for Chilling Station 6 is expected to be 0.33-0.78 k W/ ton, compared to the design performance range of 0.57-0.79 k W/ton. In the first full month of operation, Chilling Station 6 has operated as low as 0.28 k W/ton.

Results from the first 30 days of full operation confirm the plant is on target to meet estimated first-year savings of 6 million k Wh for an operating cost reduction of approximately $500,000. UTA is expected to realize a full return on investment for the incremental cost of the software in just over a year.

OptimumHVAC is a bundled third-generation software solution that includes OptimumLoop control software and OptimumHVAC Performance Assurance services. More information on the software is available at www.optimumenergyhvac.com.

Canadian District
Energy Surveyed

The Canadian District Energy
Association has published the findings of
its latest survey of all known district energy
systems within the country. Titled District
Energy: A National Survey Report, the doc-
ument presents a comprehensive picture
of the industry with data in 10 key areas:
system locations, total building area con-
nected, distribution network length, heat
and cooling services, plant commissioned,
total installed capacity, total energy sold,
fuel type, number of employees and capital
investment. The survey database now con-
tains information on 2,253 MW of district
energy capacity in Canada and a sufficient
number of systems to enable CDEA to
continue assessing the industry as it grows
across the country. To download the survey
report, go to http://cdea.ca/resources.

Veolia Energy Acquires
Comfort Link

Veolia Energy North America announced Feb. 10 that it has purchased the Baltimore-based Comfort Link district cooling system business. Comfort Link was previously a partnership of Baltimore Gas and Electric, a Constellation Energy subsidiary, and Monumental Investment Corp., a subsidiary of Emcor Group Inc. One of the largest ice thermal storage systems in the country, Comfort Link serves 50 major customers, representing more than 11. 5 million sq ft of space. The acquisition will expand

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