Energy Plants

The University reinvested in the former “Old Main Heating Plant,” replacing old boilers with a new 22.8 megawatt combustion turbine and heat recovery system that generates electric power and steam for the Minneapolis campus. 

Fueled by natural gas, the Main Energy Plant is a key investment in the University’s climate action plan to reduce campus emissions by half by the year 2020. The plant is expected to reduce the University’s net carbon footprint by an estimated 10 to 13 percent and provides the University with a more reliable source of energy, unaffected by supply disruptions.

The Southeast Heating Plant was originally constructed in 1903 as the Twin City Rapid Transit Company Steam Power Plant, Providing DC power to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan region for the electrically driven mass transit trolleys.  The Heating Plant is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the principal industrial structures relating to the Twin Cities early transit history.

SEP has undergone ownership changes and several upgrades in its history, being purchased by the University in 1977.  In its current configuration, it houses a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) and two package boilers, along with a backpressure turbine and electrical generator set.  The facility is natural gas fired, and the CFB provides an opportunity to burn multiple sources of biomass.

The St. Paul Heating Plant serves the Twin Cities St. Paul Campus, producing process and heating steam. Built in the 1940’s, the St. Paul Plant has also seen several renovations and upgrades, resulting in it’s current state, housing 5 operative high pressure, gas fired boilers.