Chevron Energy Solutions Completes Major Solar Power Project for USPS

Energy Resource, Nov 1, 2006

ENERGY RESOURCE-1 November 2006-Chevron Energy Solutions Completes Major Solar Power Project for USPS(C)2006 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com

Chevron Energy Solutions has completed its solar power project for the United States Postal Service mail center in Northern California, the largest installed to date at a federal building and the first of many similar projects the Chevron affiliate is developing under a multi-year contract with the Postal Service.

The 910-kilowatt solar power system at the Oakland Processing and Distribution Center reduces the facility's power purchases by more than one third. Other projects in Northern California, including major postal centers in San Francisco and West Sacramento, are expected to save the Postal Service more than $2 million per year in energy costs.

The Oakland project is one of dozens being developed for mail facilities throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii.

"The cost savings from these energy-efficient improvements are great enough to fund not only the equipment installations, but also renewable power systems," said Jim Davis, president of Chevron Energy Solutions. "We commend the U.S. Postal Service for implementing viable, market-driven projects that are helping to meet the rising global demand for energy in ways that benefit the environment."

The Oakland system, which spans a rooftop area nearly the size of two football fields, will help the facility meet electric demand during peak periods. Other energy-efficient upgrades on site include high-quality lighting systems that improve work areas for Postal Service employees; motion-sensor technologies that automatically control where light is used; three 300-ton centrifugal chillers -- which eliminate ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants from the facility -- and other heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; a new energy management system to control HVAC equipment; high-efficiency air compressors; and water conservation measures.

The improvements at the facility, the largest of its kind in Northern California, will lower total annual electricity purchases by almost 11 million kilowatt hours, a reduction in the demand for power that translates to 7,400 fewer tons of carbon dioxide emitted by the local electric utility annually -- the same volume of carbon dioxide that would be absorbed by planting more than 2,000 acres of trees.

The Oakland project was installed as part of a contract with Chevron Energy Solutions that included energy efficiency improvements at Postal Service facilities in Berkeley, San Leandro and Livermore. The $18 million total cost of all these installations is funded primarily by $10.1 million in energy savings, $4.5 million from the USPS's CFC refrigerant replacement program, and $3.4 million from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which administers the state's incentive programs for self-generation and efficiency improvements in Northern and Central California.

For more information, visit www.chevronenergy.com.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@scitech21.com))

((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))