1. “Keeping the Lights on”
Resiliency Benefits Of On-Site
Generation At TCNJ
Jack Fehn
Energy Systems Specialist
Energy and Central Utilities
jfehn@tcnj.edu
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2. The Campus
• Founded in 1855 -City of Trenton
• Relocated to Ewing Township in 1931
• 289 Acres
• 6135 Undergraduate Enrollment
• 39 major buildings
• 14 Residence Halls that accommodate 3600 students
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3. Campus Map
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The Campus

4. On-Site Generation
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Power Plant At Facilities Building
5MW Dual-Fuel Turbine
The TCNJ Campus Gets Power From
Parallel Feeds From The Utility (PSE&G)
And An On-Site Generator.
A 5MW Dual-Fuel Turbine Generates
Electricity For Many Campus Buildings,
And Is Managed By Onsite TCNJ Staff.
The System Is Configured As A
Combined Heat And Power Application
That Provides About 2/3 Of The Campus’
Electricity, And Most Of Its Heat Load,
And Mechanical Energy For Chillers.

5. Onsite
Turbine
5 MW
Fernwood 26 KVA Lawrence 26 KVA
15 KV Tap to front on Campus Academic Buildings
PSE&G
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Power Plant (E&CU)
Feeders A-F
Power Plant (E&CUCampus Buildings
When the Campus load is low,
the Turbine will sometimes push
power to the 15 KVA Tap. This
further reduces our need to
purchase power from PSE&G
Parallel Supply Paths

6. 6
On-Site Campus Facilities
Control Room
Centralized Chillers (1500 tons)
Boilers – Augment CHP Heat If Needed
Dual Fuel Turbine (Natural Gas, Diesel)
Note: Turbine
Runs On Natural
Gas From PSE&G,
Or Diesel Fuel
Stockpiled Onsite.
Note: Turbine
Provide Most Heat
Needed On Campus,
But Can Be Augmented
By Independently Fueled
Boilers As Needed.

7. Benefits Of On-Site Generation
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• Local control over all aspects of campus energy supply
• Cost savings compared with utility electricity purchase
• High efficiency, given CHP triple-use (electricity, heat, chillers)
• Lots of redundancy built into the system
 Parallel supply paths on many load points
 CHP heat supply augmented by boilers
 Duel fuel capability
 Ability to balance utility vs. on-site supply profile
• Resiliency: Ability to operate at nearly full load, even when grid is down
Our CHP Capability Delivers Important Benefits Year-Round,
AND Gives Us Resilient Capability During An Energy Emergency.

8. 8
Island Mode
Island Mode: Ability To Separate
From, And Operate Independent
Of The Public Grid.
We Can “Keep The Lights On”
Even If “Stranded” By An
Extended Grid Outage.

9. Turbine
5 MW
Fernwood 26 KVA Lawrence 26 KVA
15 KV Tap to front on Campus Academic Buildings
Disconnect From
The Public Grid
PSE&G
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Power Plant (E&CU)
Feeders A-F
Power Plant (E&CUCampus Buildings
Before a crises, TCNJ can
isolate from the PSE&G grid
Island Mode
Powers 2/3 Of The
Campus When Islanded
750 KW Black-Start
Generator

10. • 10/27/12 The college decided to disconnected from the
grid and go to island mode before the storm hits.
• 10/29/12 Sandy hits New Jersey. PSG&G grid goes
down.
• 10/31/12 PSE&G power restored. Due to the
configuration of the TCNJ Switch gear PSE&G was able to
supply power to parts of Ewing that were still out
because of faults in the grid.
• 11/9/12 TCNJ went off Island mode and returned to a
stable grid.
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Super Storm Sandy

11. TCNJ helps Ewing Township
“Keep the Lights on”
after
Super-Storm Sandy
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12. Jack Fehn
Energy Systems Specialist
Energy and Central Utilities
jfehn@tcnj.edu
For more information see our web page
http://powerplant.pages.tcnj.edu/
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“Keeping the Lights on”
Resiliency Benefits Of On-Site
Generation At TCNJ
Thank You!