The Department is generating “free” thermal energy from the waste heat of six shore-based cogeneration systems. Cogeneration credits account for six percent of our shore energy intensity reduction, the largest single technology contribution. The most recent addition, a 39 MW cogeneration plant in Yokosuka, Japan, came on line in November 2008 and is contributing 2.5 percent to our reduction in shore energy intensity. 

Other common facility efficiency improvements include lighting upgrades; heating and air conditioning equipment upgrades and automated controls; as well as upgrades to compressed air and other industrial systems. Several bases have replaced failing central steam systems with decentralized boilers or ground source heat pumps, in addition to major upgrades that restore efficiency to aging steam systems.

In 2009, Navy and Marine Corps shore installations executed more than $450 million in energy and water efficiency projects. Funding for these improvements came from a variety of sources, including central funding from Congress, third party financing from Energy Savings Performance Contracts and Utility Energy Savings Contracts, and prioritizing local maintenance and operations funds to improve efficiencies. The ongoing process of evaluating and executing projects to improve energy systems is a core part of the installation energy manager’s work.

The Department of the Navy has invested more than $1.2 billion in private financing for energy projects since 1996, resulting in a reduction in demand on vulnerable commercial energy infrastructure by more than 6 trillion British thermal units per year.