• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany 's Contract Increases Energy Efficiency

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS091230-04
Release Date: 12/30/2009 3:18:00 PM

By NAVFAC Southeast Public Affairs Office

Jacksonville, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) awarded an $18.8 million Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) to Chevron Energy Solutions Company of San Francisco Dec. 21 providing nearly $1.8 million in energy cost savings and 66,984 MBTUs (one million British Thermal Units) per year at Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Albany, Ga.

"The Congressional mandate, Energy Policy Act of 2005, requires that of the total annual amount of energy we consume after 2013, 7.5 percent of it be renewable Energy," said Col. Terry V. Williams, commanding officer, MCLB Albany. "This project will bring us to 22 percent, greatly exceeding this goal."

There are presidential and congressional mandates that require the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to increase the use of alternative energy sources and to reduce energy consumption.

This ESPC makes way for the Navy to purchase landfill gas from Dougherty County which will be converted to electricity when MCLB Albany will begin to burn the gas and use the renewable energy.

"An ESPC is a partnership between an energy services company (ESCO) and its customer formed for the purpose of financing and implementing cost-saving energy-efficiency improvements," said Keith Lemon, NAVFAC Southeast Utilities Energy Manager. "The ESCO pays the up front cost of purchasing and installing new equipment, and the customer repays the ESCO over the life of the contract from the cost savings resulting from the project."

Energy conservation measures for this contract will include Landfill Gas Utilization, lighting upgrades and controls upgrades.

"We will be burning our own energy to create electricity," added Williams. By producing electricity on site, using landfill gas, MCLB Albany will reap on the benefits offsetting the cost of electricity and natural gas used for steam production (heat).

Microorganisms that live in organic materials such as food wastes, paper or yard clippings cause these materials to decompose. This produces landfill gas, typically comprised of roughly 60 percent methane and 40 percent carbon dioxide (CO2). Landfill gas is collected from landfills by drilling "wells" into the landfills and collecting the gases through pipes. Once the landfill gas is processed, it can be combined with natural gas to fuel conventional combustion turbines or used to fuel small combustion or combined cycle turbines.

Construction will start later this year as Chevron Energy Solutions starts construction on the pipeline. Chevron will also be responsible for maintaining the pipeline, generator and associated equipment to produce energy from this renewable source.

"It took a little over two years from the project inception to award," said Lemon. "Months to survey the base, develop the detailed energy study, coordination and discussions between the federal government, county government and contractor, negotiations, and the final contract award. A lot of negotiating and strategizing took place to get to where we are today."

For more news from Naval Facilities Engineering Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/navfachq/.