Vanderbilt power plant to replace coal power with gas

At 210 feet tall, the smokestack for Vanderbilt University’s coal-fired power plant is one of the easiest landmarks to see on campus, so much so that visitors often use it as a waypoint to keep from getting lost.

But that red brick chimney is set to be torn down as the university moves forward on a $29 million project to convert the plant, which produces power by burning coal and natural gas, to use only gas.

Workers in recent weeks finished building two underground natural gas storage tanks, and two new natural gas-fired boilers are set to be installed next month.

In addition to reducing emissions, the university’s goal is to make the power plant more efficient year-round, said Mark Petty, the assistant vice chancellor for plant operations.

“In the summertime, when we really want to be producing electricity, it’s just not efficient for us to produce electricity with our current plant,” Petty said.

The power plant, which currently generates about 20 percent of the university’s energy needs, produces roughly half of its electricity from coal. In 2002, Vanderbilt installed a natural gas boiler, which produces the other half.

The all-natural gas plant is expected to contribute a higher percentage of the university’s power needs, due in part to its increased efficiency, Petty said.

After work is finished to install the gas-fired boilers, the university will suspend all of its coal-burning power generation in the fall, Petty said.

“We’ll be a little bit low on capacity but we should have enough redundancy to cover ourselves,” Petty said.

The conversion project is scheduled to be completely finished by 2015.

The university’s power plant has been in its current spot for nearly 100 years, and the smokestack was added in 1960, Petty said.

“It is a symbol of our old days,” Petty said. “A lot of people love it because it’s kind of a landmark on campus.”

The chimney won’t be the only thing to go. The university plans to tear down the coal storage silos as well as other buildings that support the coal operation. And since the natural gas is brought on campus through pipes, there will be no need for the daily deliveries of truckloads of coal.

Some have lightheartedly suggested keeping the chimney around, if for no other reason than to help visitors get their bearings, Petty said.

“I’ve got to find something else now to tell people how to get to my office,” Petty said.

Reach Josh Brown at 615-726-5964 and on Twitter @joshbrownnews.