Bay-Area Postal Facilities to Combine Efficiency, Fuel Cell, and Solar Power

December 15, 2004

Chevron Energy Solutions announced in early December that it will complete major energy efficiency upgrades and install a fuel cell and two solar power systems at the U.S. Postal Service's largest mail processing and distribution facilities in San Francisco: the San Francisco Processing and Distribution Center and the Embarcadero Postal Center. The energy efficiency measures will include new energy management and compressed air systems, lighting retrofits, and upgrades to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Chevron Energy Solutions will also upgrade the Processing and Distribution Center with high-efficiency natural gas cooking equipment for the cafeteria.

That facility will also host a new hybrid solar/fuel cell power plant comprised of a 250-kilowatt fuel cell, a 100-kilowatt roof-mounted solar power system, and a 185-kilowatt solar power system mounted on a parking canopy that will track the sun. FuelCell Energy, Inc. will provide the fuel cell.

The improvements at both facilities will cut power purchases by about 10 million kilowatt-hours—a 46 percent reduction. In addition, the energy efficiency upgrades will reduce the heating needs by 69 percent at the San Francisco Processing and Distribution Center and by 28 percent at the Embarcadero Postal Center. See the press releases from Chevron Energy Solutions and FuelCell Energy.