By The Daily Item
DANVILLE -- State Rep. Robert E. Belfanti Jr. has announced that Geisinger Medical Center will receive a $2.25 million grant through the state’s Green Energy Works! program to install a new generator and boiler that will produce on-site heat and electricity.
The grant money is being provided using federal stimulus funds.
Belfanti said the grant will pay for installation and operation of a 5-megawatt gas-fired turbine generator to produce electricity on-site for the medical center. The generator will be coupled with a waste-fired tube boiler to capture the waste heat produced by the generator and use it to heat the facility’s buildings and water.
“This project will allow Geisinger to save more than $1.4 million annually in electricity and heating costs,” Belfanti said. “Additionally, the project will also create several temporary jobs connected with the installation and initial operation of this new technology.”
Belfanti said the Geisinger project is one of nine projects across the state receiving more than $12 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through Pennsylvania’s Green Energy Works! program. The program, authorized by the General Assembly, is designed to help develop large-scale green energy technologies to help Pennsylvania meet future energy needs.
The current projects are all scheduled to start within six months and be completed by the end of April 2012. Future Green Energy Works! projects will provide funding for large-scale solar, biogas and wind projects.
