JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ -- Phase one of a renewable energy project is under construction at several buildings across the installation.
The JB MDL Energy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPC) are energy saving initiatives that consist of a wide range scope of bringing a multitude of infrastructure to the base, to include lighting, solar panels, battery energy storage, HVAC, transformers, and a microgrid to add to the base’s energy resiliency. This will also reduce the overall cost and consumption.
“This is good for a number of reasons; such as reducing the commercial consumption of the base by what the panels produce. Said Alexander Vincent, the project manager, 87th Civil Engineering Squadron. “If we aren’t overtaxing the grid, it’s less likely to fail. These are all being integrated into a microgrid so the critical buildings would maintain an uninterruptable power supply.”
More than 35 building rooftops will be fitted with mounted solar photovoltaic panels, with an estimated annual generation total of 21.9 Megawatt hours (MWh), after taking into account changes in sunlight hours and average weather conditions that can affect daily/hourly production. The overall cost savings of the entire base is estimated at more than $1 million a year in energy alone.
“If there was an outage, people in those critical buildings would not even notice there was one.” Vincent said. “We will still locally produce the power needed to operate, to continue to send the mission forward, to have flights launch and have a resiliency in our infrastructure.”
This work is in alignment with Executive Orders to reduce energy consumption. Most recently, EO 14057, signed by President Biden in December 2021, orders the federal government to be using 100% carbon pollution-free electricity on a net annual basis by 2030.
To come up with the terms of the ESPC’s, the 87th CES got creative. “We are not paying a dime for the individual panels and the construction.” Vincent said. "When we do start paying is when the panels become operational - after they’ve began producing electricity. The contractors will then have to prove how much they have saved us before they get paid, and their payment has to be less than what we would have saved. So at the end of the day, the overall utility bill will be less than what it was before.”
Phase two of the ESPC’s is expected to expand on the work being done and consist of a 22-year, 25% energy consumption reduction plan that will also replace 308,000 lightbulbs with LED’s in more than 400 buildings. Ground mounted solar arrays will be installed on McGuire and Lakehurst, along with HVAC replacements that will be more efficient and feature building controls to save energy during unoccupied hours.
For more information, visit energy.gov and energy.gov/policy_mandates to read more about how the federal government is moving towards renewable sources for energy.