U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry Tours Thermal Energy Corporation

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry Tours Thermal Energy Corporation

By District Energy posted 07-22-2019 12:58

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Business Wire

Summary

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry Thursday visited Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) to see first-hand the energy system that cools and heats buildings in the world’s largest medical complex – the Texas Medical Center. TECO was recently selected the #1 district energy system in the world for 2019 by the International District Energy Association.

“I appreciated the opportunity to tour Thermal Energy Corporation and see first-hand the innovative technology they use at their facility,” says Secretary Perry. “I was interested to hear about how they withstood Hurricane Harvey’s impact, underscoring the importance of resiliency within our energy systems.”

TECO’s technologies make the system reliable, energy efficient, environmentally responsible and economically advantageous. Its use of combined heat and power technology doubles TECO’s annual operating efficiency and cuts fossil fuel consumption by more than 60% compared to conventional electric generation and heat-only systems. As a result, TECO cuts annual tons of NOx by more than 90% and reduces CO2 and total greenhouse gas emissions by 48%. The greenhouse gas reduction is estimated to be the same as taking nearly 8,000 passenger vehicles annually off the road.

“The fact that Secretary Perry took the time to visit TECO helps demonstrate the importance of the work we do here,” says TECO President and CEO Steve Swinson. “There are nearly 1,000 district energy systems in the United States and hundreds more around the world that are examples of what is possible for our energy future. Our efficiency helps our energy resources go further, which contributes to energy security.”

TECO Board Chairman Brad Howell, representative from the Texas Medical Center, also participated in the tour. “TECO has the simple but daunting task to be perfect 100% of the time, providing chilled water and steam every minute of every day to mission-critical facilities,” says Howell. “Lives and invaluable research are at stake. It’s a zero-fail mission. You can imagine the sort of resiliency needed not just in systems but in character to make TECO’s system successful. TECO enables its customer institutions to do what they do best, which is to take care of people, educate people and make medical discoveries.”