Idaho Office of Energy Resources Receives Industrial Technologies Funding

November 3, 2009 -- U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that Idaho will receive financial support for several significant industrial energy efficiency projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the Idaho Office of Energy Resources (OER) a $350,000 Industrial Technologies grant to help make energy efficiency improvements at several industrial facilities. The recipients include projects at several Simplot plants and the Amalgamated Sugar Company in Nampa. Both companies contributed matching funds to leverage the DOE grants.

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“We appreciate the commitment these Idaho employers are making to help attract more funding for projects and create more career-track jobs in our state,” Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter said. “These industries have a long commitment to energy efficiency and to making Idaho more energy independent. It’s good to have them as partners in this effort."

The award will allow OER to oversee three primary industrial related energy efficiency activities: • The first activity will support projects already identified through previously completed OER energy savings assessments at JR Simplot facilities in Pocatello, Aberdeen, Nampa and Caldwell. These projects are estimated to save over 55,783 million BTU’s of natural gas and 7.56 million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy. The energy savings are comparable to the energy used by 56,000 Idaho homes.

• The second activity will focus on a feasibility study for a large, 100 megawatt combined heat and power project at The Amalgamated Sugar Company’s Nampa plant. The plant currently burns coal to produce steam for processing needs. The feasibility study will investigate the economics of constructing a natural gas fired power plant that would provide steam for sugar beet processing. If found feasible, the proposed facility will improve energy efficiency by nearly 50 percent, and significantly reduce air emissions in the Treasure Valley. 100 megawatts of electric power is roughly equivalent to that used by 58,000 Idaho homes.

• The third area of grant activity will investigate the feasibility of a waste heat recovery sorption heat pump demonstration project at a Simplot facility in either Caldwell or Nampa. Sorption technologies utilize waste heat – which otherwise would be exhausted to the atmosphere – to produce refrigeration, hot water, and/or power, depending on the quality and quantity of the available heat source. If successful, similar projects could have widespread application for food processing facilities throughout the Northwest and the country.

Source: Idaho Governor