Technical Tours

TOUR A - CORDIA

The Energy Center Minneapolis – Main Plant

The Energy Center Minneapolis – Main Plant is the core of Cordia’s Minneapolis district energy system. Originally constructed in conjunction with the IDS Tower, the Main Plant started operations in 1972, providing both steam and chilled water service.

The plant has 4 packaged water tube boilers, each with a capacity of 200,000 lb/hr at 250 psig saturated steam. The plant also has five chillers, 2 electric driven and 3 steam turbines driven. The chillers range in capacity from 2000 to 5200 tons with a total plant capacity of 17,800 tons. Cordia’s Minneapolis district energy system has now grown to include 8 additional plants, serving 56 chilled water customers and 100 steam customers through a network of over 12 miles of distribution pipes under the streets of Minneapolis.

Dayton’s Plant

The recently renovated Dayton’s chiller plant is situated in the 3rd level basement of the historic Dayton’s Project. The plant has been completely renovated in 2025 and boasts two new 1500 ton chillers with room for a third, a new 4 cell packaged cooling tower on the 9th floor roof, and associated pumps and controls.

Originally a boiler plant constructed prior to the 2nd world war, with R11 chillers added in 1964, the plant is directly connected to the downtown Minneapolis chilled water system. Cordia has collaborated with the local electric utility to power the new Dayton’s chiller plant with all renewable energy.

Cordia Minneapolis Website - https://cordiaenergy.com/our-networks/minneapolis/

TOUR B - District Energy St. Paul & Univ. of Minnesota

District Energy St. Paul

District Energy St. Paul is a nonprofit utility providing hot water and chilled water district services in downtown Saint Paul. Serving more than 200 buildings (33 million square feet) in the central business district and across the Mississippi River. Developed as a public-private partnership, the team has worked closely with the City of Saint Paul, local businesses leaders, and civic partners to offer competitive energy solutions and cost-based rates that have played a critical role in development for the city. The customer base includes government services, higher education, four major hospitals, Fortune 500 companies, and multi-family residential as well as hotels, entertainment, and sports venues.

The system is one of the largest hot water district systems in North America and an industry leader in system integration featuring biomass-fired cogeneration (25 MWe and 55 MWt), thermal storage (6.7 million gallons chilled water), and solar thermal (1.2 MW) technology. This year, the team completed a study on wastewater energy capture to decarbonize the heating system and partnered with CAT, DOE, and NREL on a pilot project to test the efficiency of hydrogen to fuel a packaged CHP generator. District Energy has become a showcase for energy efficiency through continued efforts to evolve, reinvent, and integrate sustainable solutions that have earned the operations a global reputation.

District Energy St. Paul https://www.ever-greenenergy.com/project/district-energy-st-paul/

University of Minnesota, Main Energy Plant

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities has district energy infrastructure with three plant locations in Minneapolis and Saint Paul that serve 30 million square feet across over 250 buildings. IDEA conference participants are invited to tour the Main Energy Plant (MEP), a new energy plant that was brought online in 2017 utilizing a 104-year old plant, adding reliable capacity and reducing the University’s carbon footprint. MEP provides steam, electricity, and chilled water to the campus using combined heat and power consisting of a 23 MW dual fuel combustion turbine generator as well as a 272,000 lb/hr heat recovery steam generator and two 3,000 ton chillers. Southeast Heating Plant continues to supplement MEP with 3 boilers and a 16 MW extraction/backpressure steam turbine.

The flagship of the University of Minnesota System, the Twin Cities campus is Minnesota’s only land-grant university and one of the most prestigious public research universities in the nation. Founded in 1851 on the banks of the Mississippi River, it is one of five universities in the nation with an engineering school, medical school, law school, veterinary medicine school, and agricultural school all on one campus. 

MEP webpage https://facilities.umn.edu/our-services/fm-teams/energy-management/main-energy-plant

Video of MEP as new plant https://vimeo.com/220703032

Participant Requirements

Participants must wear closed-toe shoes and full-length pants to participate in the tour. We also ask that flat shoes are worn to ease navigation of stairs and catwalks. We will provide hard hats, safety glasses, and ear plugs. Participants should be prepared for flights of stairs that are necessary to complete the tour. No elevators are available as alternatives to these flights. We will be going outside briefly, unless weather is limiting.