Meritus Health, Energy Resilience Microgrid at Meritus Medical Center

Burns served as engineer of record for the acute-care hospital’s 2.4-Megawatt cogeneration unit, designing the primary energy source for a resilient microgrid.

Meritus Health is Western Maryland’s largest healthcare provider, serving more than 200,000 residents across the Maryland-Pennsylvania-West Virginia tristate region. Partnering with FESCO Energy, the healthcare system is establishing uninterruptible power supplies at Meritus Medical Center, a 327-bed teaching hospital in Hagerstown, Maryland.

The multi-phased resilience project provides power generation from on-site renewable energy sources and combined heat and power (CHP) generation, managed through intelligent microgrid controls. In the event of a power outage, the CHP system will operate in island mode, supplying the hospital’s non-emergency loads.

Burns supported Miller Brothers, leading design of the microgrid’s electrical and mechanical systems on a turnkey design-build services contract. During the project’s initial phase, Burns delivered designs for the 2.4-MW CHP plant, 10 electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and integration with future rooftop and ground-mount solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. A high-efficiency absorption chiller will utilize heat from the CHP plant to create chilled water, providing cooling throughout the year.

Over time, the project is forecast to reduce hospital utility expenses by $300,000 each year, while avoiding an estimated 2,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

“As a result of these environmentally responsible upgrades, our hospital campus will have an enhanced, uninterrupted power supply, which is essential for patient care; reduce our emissions, and provide a cost savings, which in turn allows our non-profit, community hospital the opportunity to invest in even more ways to care for our community”

– Meritus Health’s Chief Strategy Officer, Dave Lehr

Featured photo: “Meritus Hospital”, by Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr