Trinity Health Grand Rapids Building New Combined Heat and Power Plant
January 15, 2025
Categories: Community Health
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Brad Ivey
(616) 293-1451
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (January 13, 2025) – Trinity Health Grand Rapids is pleased to announce the construction of a new power plant that will allow the hospital to produce its own steam and a portion of its electricity, greatly reducing its carbon footprint and providing a more reliable system for delivering utilities that are critical for patient care.
Traditionally, hospitals purchase steam that’s delivered through underground pipes. During the transport process, heat and steam are lost. The new, on-site Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant will be 50% more efficient and reduce the campus’ carbon footprint by an estimated 26%.
“Steam is an important resource for the hospital. It’s one we use for many purposes – heat, of course, but also in sterile processing,” said Matt Biersack, MD, president of Trinity Health Grand Rapids. “Reducing our dependency on outside resources will help ensure patients get uninterrupted access to the care they need, while reducing our carbon footprint in the community.”
The new CHP Plant will be built on campus in the Loretto building and will also include the installation of new boilers. Trinity Health Grand Rapids is investing $18 million in building the new plant, which qualified for $4 million of incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act as well as a $1 million rebate from Consumers Energy.
“In the future, with our own CHP, we’ll produce some of our own electricity on campus and use the heat generated from that process to make the cleanest steam possible,” said Zach McIntosh, Director, Plant Operations, Trinity Health Grand Rapids.
Trinity Health Grand Rapids is working with DHEngineering as the design firm on the project, with Granger leading the construction.
Construction will take place over the next 24 months, with completion expected by the end of 2026.
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