GRU Powers up new Cancer Hospital
New facility will help ensure uninterrupted access to health care during disasters
October 6, 2009
At a ceremony held on October 6, GRU dedicated the South Energy Center, which will provide all of the energy needs of the new Shands Cancer Hospital at the University of Florida when it opens November 1. The 4.3-megawatt facility is located on-site and will help ensure that area residents have uninterrupted access to health care during prolonged outages caused by a severe storm or other event.
Because the South Energy Center was built on-site, it can function as an island, separate from the traditional electric grid. The facility is one of the only combined heat and power plants in the Southeast capable of providing 100 percent of a hospital’s energy needs. The plant will also supply the cancer hospital with all of its heating, cooling and medical gas needs.
“We are pleased to partner with Shands HealthCare in this exciting medical project that will benefit the entire community and region. Our partnership is mutually beneficial to both parties and is a logical extension of our traditional model for distribution and generation of electricity,” said Bob Hunzinger, GRU general manager.
Further benefits to the community come from the use of state-of-the-art technology to greatly enhance energy efficiency and reduce emissions compared with conventional generation plants. The new facility will be extremely efficient at converting fuel into electricity, providing a 46-percent savings over traditional fossil fuel-burning generation. The level of efficiency is achieved, in part, by capturing the hot exhaust from the turbine and using it to produce steam that is then used to run the hospital’s heating and cooling systems. The projected annual energy savings is equal to the power needed to run more than 3,000 homes.
“Our partnership with GRU has resulted in very creative, forward-thinking solutions to energy challenges," said Tim Goldfarb, Shands HealthCare CEO. "Together, our companies focused on progressive energy-saving practices and developed a best-practice model that will benefit our community and hopefully others as well.”
Engineering, architecture and construction firm Burns & McDonnell designed and built the energy center to blend into the overall design aesthetic of the new Shands at UF South Campus – an extension of the existing Shands at UF North Campus – and to be expandable to meet Shands HealthCare’s future growth plans for the academic medical center. GRU will own and operate the facility for 50 years under the terms of the agreement and will occupy the land under a 99-year lease.
"This project puts Gainesville in the forefront of innovative technology, as we are one of the first utilities to build such a facility for a hospital,” Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan said. “It is a great honor for the City of Gainesville to partner with Shands HealthCare to provide a power plant that will set a standard for energy efficiency."
GRU said the unique venture will benefit electric customers by strengthening the electric system and providing a non-traditional revenue source that can help reduce upward price pressures.
Subscribe to the GRU News Flash and get the latest information on changes to our prices, energy and water savings tips, copies of GRU news releases, new product and service information and more.
