Several local environmental organizations are sounding the alarm and trying to raise awareness about a power plant proposed for the campus of The Ohio State University.
Officially known as the Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP), the facility would have a capacity of 105.5 megawatts, power that would be generated – for the first decade of its operation, at the very least – through the burning of natural gas. The plant is proposed for a piece of OSU-owned land at the northeast corner of Tharp Street and Herrick Drive, across the street from the OSU Veterinary Hospital and directly south of the Department of Food Science and Technology.
The building that would hold the facility would be about 60 feet tall, with two cooling towers extending an additional 27 feet above the roof.
The site – which currently holds several green houses – was selected for its proximity to both central campus and the proposed west campus “innovation district,” where early plans call for dozens of new mid-rise buildings and apartments for as many as 4,000 residents. The plant would provide electricity and heating to buildings in both areas, utilizing the heat created by the power-producing turbines to make steam (which is in turn used to heat buildings in the winter and to humidify and regulate temperatures in buildings year-round, and for other tasks in labs and medical facilities).
Also planned for the facility is a new chiller plant, which would be used to cool buildings in the immediate area and in west campus.
Climate Disaster or Step Toward a Carbon-Free Future?
OSU characterizes the new plant as a key component of its latest climate action plan. The stated goal of the plan – which it says is bolstered by the $1.1 billion deal with private energy companies that led to the formation of Ohio State Energy Partners in 2017 – is to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2050. The CHP plant would help achieve this goal by making the university’s heating, cooling and electrical infrastructure much more efficient, and by greatly reducing the need for the institution to draw power from a regional energy grid (run by American Electric Power) that relies heavily on coal and older natural gas plants.
OSU estimates that the CHP plant will cut carbon emissions by 35% in the first year of operations, and is betting that the fuel source of the plant can be transitioned in the not-too-distant-future from natural gas to something more environmentally-friendly – either green hydrogen or renewable natural gas.
Neil Waggoner, the Ohio Senior Campaign Representative of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, is skeptical of both claims. He points out that the 35% emissions reduction claim assumes that, if the plant is not built, OSU would simply continue to draw power from the regional grid, which he calls a “false choice.” A better method, he argues, would be to take into account other efforts OSU could undertake to transition to a more renewable mix.
For example, OSU could sign more power purchase agreements, like it did in 2012 when the university committed to buying 50 megawatts of power annually for 20 years from Blue Creek Wind Farm in northwest Ohio.
https://www.columbusunderground.com/concerns-raised-about-proposed-power-plant-on-osu-campus-bw1
