statesman.com | Austin debuts a chilling power plant

City and federal energy officials on Monday unveiled a prototype power plant they hope will someday catch on worldwide: a superefficient system that generates electricity to power buildings, then uses the resulting heat to cool them.

The $8.3 million facility, known as a combined heat and power plant, uses heat provided by a power-producing turbine and a chemical process to chill water for cooling. The plant, at the Domain retail center in North Austin, is one of six federal research projects nationwide, Austin Energy officials said.

If the project is a success, officials say, it could help prove the system's suitability for businesses of the future.

Austin's plant will provide 4.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 3,300 homes, and is capable of delivering 2,500 tons of chilled water, enough to air-condition about a million square feet of office space.

The project also represents another first for the city-owned electric utility, which in the past year has made headlines for dwarfing other cities in clean energy consumption and for offering financial incentives for customers to install solar energy systems.

In a brief ceremony Monday at the Domain, energy officials and local dignitaries alike praised the system as a model of energy efficiency. Federal officials are hoping Austin's plant is the beginning of a trend, said Ron Fiskum, a technical manager with the Department of Energy.

"We're hoping this project sets the stage for other projects like this around the world," Fiskum said. "Once people see the data, they're going to want to get involved."

The plant has a collection of large components that reside in a space the size of a large office. Natural gas runs the turbine, which generates power that flows into Austin Energy's grid, said Cliff Braddock, the utility's director of energy business development.

On the opposite end of the turbine, waste products in the form of exhaust heat are directed into a special chiller that cools water with the help of a chemical process. That differs from conventional chillers, which are powered by electricity, and other cooling-heating-power systems, which do not use heat to produce air conditioning, Braddock said.

Officials now plan to collect data on the system to see how well it performs, said Ed Clark, an Austin Energy spokesman.

"This is a test to see if a chiller of this size can operate at maximum capacity," Clark said. "You're talking about looking at it over time to make sure there's efficiency that you feel it should be providing, and no equipment problems."

Austin Energy already runs a cooling plant to provide air conditioning and steam for heating to businesses at the Domain. The new plant will be used for new businesses at the complex and the surrounding area, Clark said.

Austin Mayor Will Wynn, who recently returned from a European trip touting the city's energy programs, said he hopes to expand the number of plant sites in Austin. "This is the first of these early steps we're taking toward the future of Austin's economy and also the environment," Wynn said.

erodriguez@statesman.com; 445-3673

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