Rosendin

Project doubles electrical power for Arizona State University’s research community

TEMPE, AZ – Rosendin recently completed work with a team of stakeholders on an essential expansion and upgrade to Arizona State University’s (ASU) Combined Heating and Power Facility (CHPF). The project effectively doubles the available electrical power for the ASU research community microgrid, while also doubling the steam capacity used for heating by both the research community and the Tempe campus distribution network.

The CHPF allows ASU to be completely independent of the electrical grid if it ever needed to be, such as in the instance of a citywide power outage, ensuring that there is no disruption to millions of dollars’ worth of ongoing research.

“We were proud to play a key role in the ASU CHPF expansion project which nearly doubles the available electrical power at one of the fastest-growing research universities in the country,” said Brandon Stephens, Division Manager at Rosendin. “As with all of our contracts and partners, it is Rosendin’s goal to ensure our clients have the proper infrastructure and systems to safely and efficiently deliver the power they require to fully operate.”

The CHPF expansion project added a new T-70 Solar Turbine Generator, one of the most efficient turbines currently available, and New Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) along with a dozen supporting ancillary systems to ultimately add over 7 kW of power and 90,000 lb/hr of steam to support research activities at ASU’s Tempe campus.

While expanding power operations is the main priority of the project, the CHPF expansion also supports ASU’s goal to eliminate greenhouse gases from building energy sources by 2025 as part of its Carbon Neutrality Action Plan. It is estimated that the new turbine generator will reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 4,000 metric tons.

As with all Rosendin projects, safety for its workers and all involved was a priority. Despite the high-risk nature of working in an operational power generation facility, Rosendin was proud to have no OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) recordable incidents.

“Safety is a value that we are not willing to compromise on, as our people are the most valuable asset to our company,” added Stephens. “The diligent efforts of our partners combined with our own thorough safety training and policies resulted in zero injuries and a successfully-completed project.”

The CHPF expansion project required more than 40,000 of worker hours to complete. The total contract value was just under $13 million and the project was completed on time in less than ten months. Rosendin worked on this project with McCarthy Building Companies, Sun Devil Energy LLC, Cleanway Energy, and R.G. Vanderwell Engineers.