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.