AFCEC enhances base resiliency through energy conservation investment project

  • Published
  • By Breanne Smith
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  A blackout during an Alaskan winter is life-threatening. Without a constant supply of heat, building temperatures rapidly drop below habitable levels and require evacuation -- a major mission risk for Clear Air Force Station, Alaska.

In December 2015, the Air Force freed Clear AFS from its aging coal power plant and connected it to the local power grid. With the flip of a switch, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center increased energy reliability and significantly cut costs for a vital radar station.

Previously powered exclusively by a 53-year-old coal-fired plant on site, Clear faced an unpleasant future if the base remained coal powered --$16 million in required plant modernization and continued high operating costs.

"The plant's operational costs were unsustainable," said Col. Scott Warner, Pacific division chief for AFCEC's Facility Engineering directorate. "We worked with the base to find a cost-effective solution to enhance base resiliency through energy assurance."

Rather than pay significant modernization costs, the team pursued an energy conservation investment project that connected the Alaskan transmission network using a newly-constructed electrical substation, and added a grid-powered heat plant and additional backup power. Cost avoidance from modernization and cost savings in operations, maintenance, labor and fuel will save the Air Force approximately $2.6 million in fiscal 2016 and $1.9 million each year after -- meaning the $23.5 million ECIP will pay for itself in savings in less than five years.

In addition to long-term cost savings, the ECIP also provides a backup capability that protects both the mission and base infrastructure.

"In winter (at Clear), pipes begin to freeze after about four hours without heat," said Maj. Scott Howe, the civil engineer at Clear AFS. "Evacuation issues aside, it would cost about $200 million to repair damages from burst pipes."

Construction began in June 2014. With numerous agencies involved in the project -- AFCEC, the base, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Alaska, construction contractors and the utility provider -- coordination was key to staying on schedule and allowing the base to remain mission focused, said Maj. James Fitzgerald, project engineer for USACE-Alaska District

"The construction window in Alaska is narrow," Fitzgerald said. "Digging through snow and frozen ground isn't feasible and delays drive up project costs. We banded together to tackle obstacles and stay on schedule."

The heating situation at Clear was so precarious the base spent nearly $1 million for a year-long backup emergency boiler plant in November 2014, Howe said. The ECIP was far enough along the following winter the base was able to rely on portable heaters. At a cost of $55,000, the heaters served as backup freeze protection until the power switch in December, Howe said.

While the work leading up to December's power switch was hectic at times, the switch-flipping moment was fairly anticlimactic, Warner said.

"Up until now, every winter for Clear has been a planning ordeal," Warner said. "With minimal manning and maintenance, the base can focus on the mission and spend less time and money preparing for winter -- that's how we provide mission assurance through energy assurance."