The Clean Energy Campus will replace UC Berkeley’s natural gas-fueled cogen plant that supplies 90% of campus energy -- and has less than 10 years of usable life -- with a model 21st century, 100% clean energy microgrid.
Campus studies have defined a path to construction and operation. A first phase is on-track be completed by 2028 and includes the new electrified central plant for heating and cooling, as well as a distribution network required to connect a majority of campus buildings. The most energy-intensive buildings will be prioritized for connection in the first phase, and the remaining buildings will be connected in phase two that will take an additional two years to complete. Phase one also introduces on-site solar energy production, large-scale battery storage, geothermal heat exchange, and fuel cells. Critically, completion of the first phase of the Clean Energy Campus will also provide for the total shutdown of the aged natural gas-fueled cogeneration plant in 2028.
See the full updated two-page summary of the project and where we are headed.