University of Wisconsin – Charter Street Heating Plant

The Charter Street Heating Plant is one of two campus heating plants serving the University of Wisconsin – Madison, serving 330 campus buildings. Previously reliant on coal-generated energy, as part of the State of Wisconsin and university’s goals for more sustainable, clean energy, the plant was to be transitioned from coal to natural gas. In addition, the rebuild updated all aspects of the plant with highly advanced equipment and controls. For this complex schedule-driven project, the owner, the State of Wisconsin, chose the engineer-procure-construct (EPC) delivery method. This expedited planning, design, and construction, maximized value and provided the State with a single point of responsibility.

The scope of this project included removing the coal boilers and adding four new 225,000 lb/hr natural gas/fuel oil package boilers. The facility buildings required an addition of 70,000 SF to accommodate the new boilers and balance of plant equipment. Some of the balance of plant equipment included water treatment, feed water system, air compressors and condensate collection systems. Additionally, the plant received significant upgrades, including new digital controls, electrical systems, emission controls and fire protection. Lastly, a new 920,000-gallon fuel oil tank was installed, along with a six-cell 50,000 GPM cooling tower.