Friday, October 3, 2008

Noresco wins $33M energy savings deal at nuclear lab

By Mass High Tech Staff

Energy services company Noresco LLC has landed a contract from nuclear energy research and development facility Idaho National Laboratory (INL) worth $33 million to improve the lab’s power infrastructure.

According to officials at Westborough-based Noresco, the project will be built at one of the primary work areas at INL, the Materials and Fuels Complex, and will reduce energy consumption by $1.7 million per year.

Noresco will convert the complex’s energy source for boilers from fuel oil to electricity, eliminating the more than 580,000 gallons per year the facility purchases. Because of the inexpensive nature of hydropower, a significant source of electricity in Idaho, the lab will see a significant cost savings, Noresco said. In addition, the annual carbon reduction and energy savings for the project will be the same as removing 1,120 cars from the road.

The infrastructure upgrades will also improve the reliability of mechanical systems and provide a safer working environment, by upgrading to heating and air conditioning controls, replacing numerous air handling units, upgrading lighting systems, and installing passive solar walls.

Earlier this year, Noresco signed a deal valued at $18 million to implement an on-site energy management program at the University of Rhode Island’s South Kingston campus. Noresco executives estimated that improvements at the athletic complex and the Memorial Union alone should realize an annual energy cost reduction of $596,000.

Noresco was founded as Northeast Energy Services Co. Inc. in 1984. Over the years, the company has built on-site energy facilities that generate more than 350 megawatts of power, and reports helping its customers improve energy efficiency by saving more than 31 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.