Northern Power Systems Awarded $4.1 Million Contract for On-site Power System at Equity Office's 717 5th Ave. Office Building
22 December 2004 - 6:39AM
PR Newswire (US)
Northern Power Systems Awarded $4.1 Million Contract for On-site
Power System at Equity Office's 717 5th Ave. Office Building System
is first to be synchronously interconnected to Midtown utility grid
WAITSFIELD, Vt., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northern Power
Systems, a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp
(NASDAQ:DESC), has been awarded a $4.1 million contract for a 1.6
MW on-site combine heat and power (CHP) system at 717 5th Avenue in
New York City. Located on 5th Avenue at 56th Street, the Class-A
office building is managed, owned and leased by Equity Office. The
project will represent the first system of its kind to be
synchronously interconnected to the critical midtown network grid
of utility provider Con Edison. The system will handle 60% of the
450,000-square-foot building's electric usage, and 65% of its
cooling and heating needs. The project is supported by a $745,000
grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA). "Similar to the projects that we have
partnered with Northern Power Systems in California, this project's
energy savings, reliability and economics will provide the building
with improved power reliability, cleaner electric power, below
market energy rates and back-up power for customers throughout the
building," said Thomas W. Smith of Equity Office. "Furthermore, the
NYSERDA grant was instrumental to ensure that we stayed within our
financial objectives for the project." Designed and built by
Northern on a turnkey basis, the system will generate electric
power during on- and mid-peak hours, and provide chilled water in
the summer and hot water in the winter. It is sized to provide
nearly two-thirds of the building's peak summer electric demand. In
addition, the new system is capable of providing additional backup
power in the event of a blackout, in conjunction with the
building's existing diesel generator, which covers fire and life
safety systems. Whenever the system operates, the building remains
connected to Con Edison, running in parallel operation with their
grid. By capturing the waste heat from the engine generators and
using it to drive both heating and cooling systems for the
building, the system is expected to achieve a combined efficiency
of over 73%, more than double the efficiency of power supplied by
the grid. The higher efficiency of the on-site power system
translates into significant energy cost savings and an attractive
return on investment for Equity Office. At the same time, the
higher efficiency will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Though its
primary function is to increase the building's efficiency, the
system can also provide backup power capable of keeping the
building operational during an extended power outage, such as the
one experienced by tenants during the August 2003 blackout.
Supporting Goals of Equity Office and NYSERDA "The benefits of this
system are a great value-add for our existing customers," said Don
Huffner, senior vice president of Equity Office's New York Region.
"Our goal is to leverage the economies this system will provide to
further position 717 Fifth competitively among other Midtown office
buildings when recruiting prospective new customers." In addition,
the 717 5th Avenue project directly supports NYSERDA's goals of
improving grid reliability, improving overall energy efficiency and
reducing energy costs to promote economic expansion. "We believe
that the 717 5th Avenue project will serve as an outstanding
example to similar facilities that a successful interconnection of
on-site generating assets with the local network grid is possible
and that such projects will have a positive impact on relieving
some of the load currently straining the grid," said Peter R.
Smith, President of NYSERDA. "In addition, such projects hold the
promise of benefiting the environment through dramatically improved
energy efficiency." Walter "Chip" Schroeder, President of
Distributed Energy Systems Corp., commenting on the support from
NYSERDA, explained, "The financial support from NYSERDA helps us
offset some of the non-recurring engineering costs associated with
this breakthrough project. This means that our design and
engineering costs will be lower on many similar Distributed
Generation project opportunities that we have identified in New
York, thereby improving their commercial value." Project Propels
New Northern New York/New Jersey Satellite Office The 717 5th
Avenue system represents the first project developed by Northern's
new field office in New Jersey. As was the case when Northern's
West Coast office was opened three years ago to address the growing
on-site power needs in California, the East Coast office will bring
Northern's 30 years of distributed generation expertise to the New
York metropolitan area, providing businesses in this constrained
transmission and distribution area with a leading resource for new
and innovative power solutions. The new full- service office
includes sales, engineering, project management, and maintenance
personnel, and is led by Chris Wissemann, a 20-year energy industry
veteran whose experience includes the development of Distributed
Generation projects, energy efficiency, commodities management, and
operations and maintenance. "This is a very exciting development
for Northern," said Clint "Jito" Coleman, president of Northern
Power Systems. "As evidenced by Con Edison's support of the
interconnect, there is significant state-level support for the
expansion of distributed generation in New York-likewise, in New
Jersey and Connecticut. Having a home base in this area means
Northern can provide the highest quality and most responsive
customer service to local clients. In addition, it puts us in a
strong competitive position to better identify and pursue other new
business opportunities," Coleman added. System Details The
state-of-the-art CHP system consists of two 820 kW lean burn
generator sets, heat exchangers, and a 289-ton hot water absorber,
all housed in a sound-attenuated enclosure. The turnkey CHP system
will be installed on an open setback roof atop the low-rise portion
of the building. The generators will tie into the two main building
electrical services. Hot water from the system's heat exchangers
will tie into the building perimeter heating loop, while the output
from the absorption chiller will tie in directly to the chilled
water system. According to Amir Yanni, project manager for Northern
Power Systems, the system will be no louder than the existing
cooling towers. "In addition to the housing enclosure, the system
is mounted on steel dunnage that incorporates vibration isolators
to ensure that the system does not disturb tenants." About Equity
Office Properties: Equity Office Properties Trust (NYSE:EOP),
operating through its various subsidiaries and affiliates, is the
nation's largest publicly held office building owner and manager
with a portfolio of 706 buildings comprising 125.9 million square
feet in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Equity Office has
an ownership presence in 27 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
and in 125 submarkets, enabling it to provide wide range of office
solutions for local, regional and national customers. For more
company information, visit the Equity Office website at
http://www.equityoffice.com/ About NYSERDA: The New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a public
benefit corporation created in 1975 by the New York State
Legislature. NYSERDA administers the New York Energy $mart(SM)
program, which is designed to support certain public benefit
programs during the transition to a more competitive electricity
market. Some 2,700 projects in 40 programs are funded by a charge
on the electricity transmitted and distributed by the State's
investor-owned utilities. The New York Energy $mart(SM) program
provides energy efficiency services, including those directed at
the low- income sector, research and development, and environmental
protection activities. About Northern Power Systems, Inc. Northern
Power Systems, Inc. designs, builds and installs reliable power
solutions for commercial, industrial, government, and military
customers. The company also conducts research and development in
the areas of renewable energy, distributed generation and hydrogen
technology. Since its founding in 1974, Northern has installed over
800 systems in 45 countries on all seven continents. Northern Power
Systems, Inc. is headquartered in Waitsfield, Vermont with field
offices in the New York metropolitan area and San Francisco. The
company employs 130 people with turnkey design, engineering,
construction, and customer-support capabilities. Northern Power
Systems is a wholly owned operating unit of Distributed Energy
Systems Corp. For more information, visit
http://www.northernpower.com/. About Distributed Energy Systems
Corp. Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (NASDAQ:DESC) creates and
delivers products and solutions to the emerging decentralized
energy marketplace, giving users greater control over their energy
cost, quality, and reliability. As the parent company of Proton
Energy Systems, Inc. (http://www.protonenergy.com/) and Northern
Power Systems, Inc., Distributed Energy Systems delivers a
combination of practical, ready-today energy solutions and the
solid business platforms for capitalizing on the changing energy
landscape. For more information, visit
http://www.distributed-energy.com/. This press release contains
forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor
provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Statements contained herein that are not statements of
historical fact, including statements concerning the performance of
the power systems described above, may be deemed to be
forward-looking information. Without limiting the foregoing, words
such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "may," "might," "should," "will," and "would" and other
forms of these words or similar words are intended to identify
forward-looking information. Northern's and Distributed Energy's
actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these
forward-looking statements as a result of various important
factors. Northern Power Systems and Distributed Energy each
disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those
contained in Northern's and Distributed Energy's forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, failure of our products
and systems to perform as specified or achieve commercial
acceptance, the impact of competitive products and systems, and
other factors detailed in Distributed Energy's Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2004, and other filings Distributed
Energy may make from time to time with the SEC. DATASOURCE:
Distributed Energy Systems Corp CONTACT: Investor Relations,
+1-203-678-2355, or Cynthia Rogers, Equity Office, +1-312-466-3593,
or of Equity Office Properties Trust; or Marilynn Meek General Info
for The Financial Relations Board, +1-212-445-8451, for Distributed
Energy Systems Corp Web site: http://www.distributed-energy.com/
http://www.northernpower.com/ http://www.protonenergy.com/
http://www.equityoffice.com/
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