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    Burns & McDonnell leading Modernization of Texas A&M campus 50-MW Cogeneration power plant

    June 21, 2022
    The work will include replacement of a failed steam turbine generator and aging auxiliary equipment. Burns & McDonnell also will install an emergency generator with increased capacity and controls and upgraded cooling towers
    Image credit Texas A&M
    Cup Night1 62b233ecbb786

    Texas A&M University will replace one of its on-site steam turbine generators as part of the modernization and expansion of its campus combined heat and power (CHP) plant.

    The school is partnering with engineering and construction firm Burns & McDonnell to guide the project on the main campus in College Station, Texas. The A&M Central Utility Plant (CUP) serves research and education activities across 800 buildings on the 5,200-acre campus.

    The CUP has generated 50 MW at capacity and includes one natural gas-fired turbine and two steam turbine generators to capture additional energy. Burns & McDonnell will lead design and construction for this project.

    The work will include replacement of a failed steam turbine generator and aging auxiliary equipment. Burns & McDonnell also will install an emergency generator with increased capacity and controls, upgraded cooling towers and additional ancillary systems.

    The replacement of this power production equipment will allow the university to operate more effectively in the event of a loss of grid power or natural gas supply by converting up to 50,000 pounds per hour of excess steam to electricity, according to the company.

    “We’re excited to continue our history of providing design and construction services for critical upgrades to the Texas A&M campus utility systems,” said Scott Clark, vice president and general manager for Burns & McDonnell in Fort Worth. “TAMU is a wonderful client that understands the value of an integrated design-build solution for meeting the needs of students, faculty and visitors.”

    The changes are being implemented to improve overall reliability, energy efficiency and critical power capacity during peak demand. Texas has experienced a stretch of extreme winter and summer events which caused grid disruptions in recent years.

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    In fact, earlier this week demand on the Texas power grid—which is managed by the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas—broke a record for peak demand of more than 76,600 MW or 76.6 GW.

    In the winter storm of February 2021, the Texas grid lost some 52 GW in generation capacity and was forced to implement load shedding, cutting power to millions of customers.

    Burns and McDonnell has helped managed electrical and thermal upgrades at the Texas A&M campus for more than a decade. The firm’s OnSite Energy and Power Group based in Fort Worth will lead the latest campus CUP project.

    The campus CUP cogeneration system has included a GE LM2500+G4 gas-fired combustion turbine and additional heat recovery equipment. In recent years, the university has allocated more than $70 million toward modernization and upgrades, according to reports.

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    (Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).

    Follow us on Twitter @EnergyTechNews_

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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