PROJECT OVERVIEW

Tribe/Awardee
Oneida Indian Nation of New York

Location
Oneida, NY

Project Title
Oneida Indian Nation Community-Scale Clean Energy Deployment Combined Heat and Power Project

Type of Application
Deployment

DOE Grant Number
DE-EE0006944

Project Amounts
DOE: $1,000,000
Awardee: $1,437,062
Total: $2,437,062

Project Status:
See project status

Project Period of Performance 
Start: September 2015
End: August 2018

Summary

The Oneida Indian Nation of New York (the Nation) intends to improve the energy efficiency of its existing natural gas-fed combined utility plant (CUP), increase the Nation’s energy self-sufficiency, and reduce the Nation’s energy costs by capturing and converting waste steam from its existing heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to produce additional electrical energy on-site, thereby reducing the amount of electrical energy purchased from local utilities. This will enable the Nation’s primary business enterprise, Turning Stone Resort (Resort), to operate more efficiently and at lower cost. This, in turn, will allow the Resort to continue to provide financial support, through revenue generated by its business operations, for the Nation’s essential government programs and services for Oneida Members.

The Nation will purchase, install, test, commission, and operate a condensing steam turbine generator (STG) and surface steam condenser (SSC) to capture and use approximately 100% of the surplus thermal energy produced by its existing HRSG—currently being vented to the atmosphere as waste steam—to generate additional electrical energy at the Nation’s CUP, displacing electricity currently purchased from local utilities.

Project Description

Background

The members and leadership of the Nation have identified three principal long-range goals to guide the social and economic development of the community. These goals are:

  1. To help the Nation’s members achieve their highest potential in education, physical and mental health, and economic development
  2. To implement the legal and administrative structure necessary for the stability and protection of the Nation’s sovereignty, treaty rights, and government-to-government relationships
  3. To acquire, develop, and secure resources to achieve economic and social empowerment and self-sufficiency.

In keeping with these goals, the Nation owns and operates a number of business enterprises for its benefit and the benefit of its members. Overall, the Nation employs approximately 4,500 Native and non-Native people across all of its governmental programs and commercial enterprises. Approximately 80% of these employees work at the Turning Stone Resort, providing varying degrees of support on campus. Turning Stone, which opened in 1993, is one of the top five tourist destinations in New York State, hosting more than 4.5 million guests annually. The Resort campus is the epicenter of the Nation’s economic base and activities, generating approximately 70% of the Nation’s operating revenue in FY2013. The Nation is the single largest employer in Oneida and Madison counties and the fourth-largest employer in the 16 counties of Central New York; only Cornell University (Ithaca), Upstate Medical Center (Syracuse), and Syracuse University employ more people.

In the fall of 2010, the Nation contracted with a consulting firm to conduct an energy assessment for the Resort. The assessment was completed in January 2011 and resulted in a several hundred-page report listing numerous Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs), along with detailed data used to calculate the savings for each ECM. Based on the report’s findings, the Nation determined that solar and wind energy, while environmentally favorable, were not economically feasible and would not provide a reasonable return on investment in a timely manner. However, the energy assessment did provide valuable information used in implementing several energy-related projects on Nation land (see Relevant Energy Projects, below). As of FY2013, 36 energy projects have been completed for a total annual savings of 3,646,424 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and $495,676.

Project Objectives

The Nation intends to improve the energy efficiency of its existing natural gas-fed CUP, increase its energy self-sufficiency, and reduce its energy costs by capturing and converting waste steam from its existing HRSG to produce additional electrical energy onsite, thereby reducing the amount of electrical energy purchased from local utilities. This will enable the Nation’s primary business enterprise, the Resort, to operate more efficiently and at lower cost.

Project Scope

The Nation will purchase, install, test, commission, and operate a condensing STG and surface steam condenser to capture and use approximately 100% of the surplus thermal energy produced by its existing HRSG—currently being vented to the atmosphere as waste steam—to generate additional electrical energy at its CUP, displacing electricity currently purchased from local utilities.

The Nation has a central utility plant identified as the CUP that supplies electricity, steam, and chilled water to the Resort. The CUP currently houses a gas turbine generator, a single pressure HRSG, two boilers for back-up steam supply, and four centrifugal chillers for supplying chilled water to the Resort. Steam is generated by the HRSG at 120 psig (pounds per square inch gauge) and delivered to the Resort buildings via an export steam pipe and distribution system. The steam is utilized for space heating and domestic hot water uses. Steam is also used within the CUP by the deaerator. The HRSG has a bypass stack and diverter valve that allows the plant to operate in a thermal load-following mode, matching steam production to demand by bypassing a portion of the gas turbine exhaust to the atmosphere. Hence, a portion of the gas turbine generator exhaust energy is wasted. A feasibility study commissioned by the Nation and completed in April 2015 identified the proposed project as the best approach among three options studied to meet the Nation’s clean energy and energy efficiency objectives.

Under the proposed project, the full gas turbine exhaust flow will be delivered to the HRSG to produce steam. This will result in more steam flow being produced than is required by the Resort and deaerator. The excess steam is expected to be piped to the STG at 120 psig. The turbine will exhaust to a water-cooled surface steam condenser, which is expected to operate at a pressure of 1” to 3” HgA (inches of mercury at one-atmosphere), depending on ambient conditions heat rejection load. Output to the STG can be as high as 1,400 kilowatts (kW), depending on the steam available. Circulating cooling water for the condenser will be cooled in one of the existing evaporative cooling towers formerly used as part of the absorption chiller operation. Condensate from the condenser will be pumped to the CUP’s condensate storage tank.

The Nation plans to execute a sole-source contract with a preferred vendor to provide engineering consulting services for the project. It also plans to conduct a competitive process to award subcontracts for structural, mechanical, and electrical work needed for installation, operation, and maintenance of the STG and SSC. The engineering contractor is expected to prepare the equipment specifications and, on approval by the Nation, the equipment will be ordered.

At this time, delivery of the STG is expected to take up to 12 months. During this time, the Nation will prepare and solicit bids and award the mechanical/structural and electrical contracts; the engineering consultant will prepare the technical specifications and drawings needed to complete the mechanical and electrical work; and the contractors will complete the preinstallation structural, mechanical, and electrical activities. The major structural modifications to the CUP will be the removal and relocation of an existing absorption chiller and construction of the foundation for the STG. Upon delivery, the equipment will be inspected, tested, and commissioned. The remaining mechanical and electrical work will be completed and the equipment will be tied into the Nation’s existing mechanical and electrical systems.

The new CHP system will be tested, commissioned, and fully deployed upon Nation approval. The project coordinator and evaluator will monitor system performance and produce monthly reports of energy usage, energy generation, and energy costs for a designated period of time following deployment. These reports will be used to determine the achievement of the stated project objectives and the overall success of the CHP Project.

Project Location

The proposed project will be located on the Nation’s 812 +/- acre Turning Stone Resort campus, which is located in the town of Verona, County of Oneida. In addition to the 122,000-square-foot casino, the Resort includes several lodging facilities with over 700 guest rooms, 5 neighboring golf courses, spas, entertainment complexes, dining and banquet facilities, and administrative offices. There are currently 12 facilities located within the Turning Stone Resort campus and 2 additional facilities adjacent to the campus that will also benefit from this project.

Project Status

The project is complete. For additional details, see the final report.

The project was competitively selected under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Tribal Energy Deployment Program's fiscal year 2015 funding opportunity announcement “Deployment of Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects on Indian Lands” (DE-FOA-0001021) and started in September 2015.

The December 2016, November 2017December 2018, and November 2019 project status reports provide more information.