The Iowa State power plant will have three new boilers in the next two years in order to reduce emissions. Natural gas boilers will replace the existing ones running on coal.

The project is being undertaken to comply with National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, emissions regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The deadline to comply with these regulations is January 2016.

According to an ISU faculty and staff newsletter, the new boilers will reduce coal consumption by one-third, or 48 kilotons. It will also mean reduced emissions of sulfur dioxide by 85 percent, particulate emissions by 78 percent, nitrogen oxide by 67 percent and carbon dioxide by 15 percent.

The demolition of the retired boilers along with the ash equipment is scheduled for completion in February 2014. The natural gas boilers will be housed in a new building and are expected to be running in fall 2015. The other two coal boilers will also see modifications with an air-pollution control system.

“The project continues ISU’s commitment to improving our efficiency, lowering operating costs, reducing the university’s carbon footprint and increasing clean energy to the Ames community critical to further economic development,” said Warren Madden, senior vice president for business and finance, in a faculty newsletter. 

The $38 million project was approved by the Board of Regents in December 2012. Funds from utility bonds will be used for the project, said Jeffrey Witt, director of utilities for facilities and planning management.

The cost will be transferred over to campus consumers over a span of 25 years. He added that the natural gas boilers will not be as efficient as the coal boilers. However, he said he expects a minimal increase in the utilities rates to the campus consumers.

The power plant does not supply electricity to all buildings on campus at all times.

“We purchase electricity from the City of Ames for the College of Veterinary Medicine campus. For the main campus, we either buy from a wind farm north-east of town or from the electric market,” Witt said.

The power plant is a combined heat and power plant in which thermal heat is first used for producing electricity and then used for heating purposes. This makes it possible to use fuel resources efficiently. The plant also purchases electricity from other entities.

“We are a combined heat and power generation plant. That power is the cheapest available to us. The electric market is the next choice followed by wind farms. On an average, it is cheaper to buy a big part of our electricity. We buy different amounts every day depending on the price,” Witt said.

The university also generates a small amount of energy from the windmill installed last year on-campus.

“There are many challenges to having wind-energy including laying transmission lines. The turbine we have on-campus is the largest we can have with our proximity with the airport,” said Merry Rankin, director of sustainability.

“The administration is looking at the consistency of a wind-energy source. We have a number of things on campus that rely on a consistent source of energy including research,” Rankin said.

According Facilities and Planning Management Utility Services , electricity consumption at the university has increased by more than 60 percent while water consumption has increased by more than 50 percent over the last 20 years.

Witt said that energy consumption has been stable over the past few years.

Other ongoing projects by utilities on-campus include upgrading sub-stations on-campus that distribute power to the buildings to help manage increasing demand loads from the new buildings.