Intermountain Health is celebrating a major advancement in its sustainability efforts with the opening of the Castle Solar Farm in Huntington, UT, which will provide power for several Intermountain hospitals, clinics, and other facilities and result in a cost savings of more than $500,000 annually.

The 40-megawatt solar farm, which Intermountain Health has contracted to provide 20 megawatts, is located 140 miles southeast of Salt Lake City and will produce enough electricity to offset the total annual use of 17 Intermountain Health facilities, including 10 hospitals. 

The project will supply Intermountain Health with renewable electricity for the next 20 years.

“This is one of the biggest sustainability investments we’ve ever made, and we will be seeing benefits for decades to come,” said Eric Liston, vice president of clinical services for Intermountain Health. “By making a cleaner environment in the communities that we serve, Intermountain is helping our patients live the healthiest lives possible.”

Hospitals use large amounts of electricity due to the number of services and equipment that are operated 24/7 year-round. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions avoided by Intermountain switching to solar is the equivalent of removing 6,400 cars from the road.

The solar farm project is a result of a partnership with D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI), which constructed the solar farm and will own and operate the site. 

“Castle Solar marks the third project that DESRI has constructed in Emery County,” noted Hy Martin, chief development officer of DESRI. “Our team is thrilled that Castle is now delivering renewable energy to PacifiCorp, the University of Utah, and Intermountain Health. Despite supply chain constraints in the past few years, we are glad to continue to deliver new projects for our partners.”   

Rocky Mountain Power will provide the transmission to the grid for the electricity generated at the solar plant. 

These types of projects are made possible through an innovative program at the utility company that allows large energy companies to purchase renewable energy and generate on their behalf.

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Como parte de su constante esfuerzo por mejorar la sustentabilidad, Intermountain Health celebra un nuevo Centro de operaciones remotas (ROC, por sus siglas en inglés) que realizar un seguimiento y una observación del uso de energía en instalaciones grandes y que ha ayudado a ahorrar más de medio millón de dólares en el primer año gracias a la identificación y eliminación de los derroches de energía.

El sistema del ROC utiliza mil millones de puntos de datos para realizar un seguimiento del uso de energía y encontrar ineficiencias en aquellos sistemas que no están funcionando en forma correcta. En una instalación de gran tamaño como es un hospital, puede resultar difícil encontrar las ineficiencias y estas no suelen descubrirse hasta que se rompe algún aparato o equipo.

“Para poder lograr que un edificio grande resulte cómodo para los pacientes, se necesita que muchos sistemas distintos trabajen en conjunto y en forma correcta, por lo que existen muchos puntos en los que se puede producir alguna falla”, explicó Matt Wilson, jefe del centro de operaciones remotas de Intermountain Health. “Este sistema nuevo es capaz de detectar los problemas más pequeños para que podamos encontrarlos y resolverlos”.

El ROC pudo construirse gracias a una asociación con el Programa Wattsmart Business de Rocky Mountain Power. Este programa permitió que Intermountain Health pudiera recibir ayuda técnica e incentivos para reducir su consumo de energía.

“Nuestra asociación con Intermountain Health no solo nos permitió ahorrar dinero, sino que también aumentó nuestra eficiencia en el consumo de energía y disminuyó el impacto en el medio ambiente”, comentó Jessen Doxey, jefe de negocios regional para Rocky Mountain Power. “El Programa proporciona los ahorros y las soluciones que se diseñaron para ayudar a las compañías a alcanzar sus metas a largo plazo”.

Un ejemplo del trabajo realizado por el centro de operaciones fue la detección de una falla en una caldera que se estaba encendiendo y apagando rápidamente para mantener la temperatura en una clínica médica. Esta falla no solo constituía un derroche de energía, sino que también estaba por causar una falla catastrófica de la caldera. Gracias a que se descubrió la falla a tiempo, el equipo de mantenimiento pudo solucionar el problema, de forma que la caldera volviera a funcionar en forma correcta.

El ROC se está utilizando actualmente en 18 instalaciones de Intermountain Health en Utah e Idaho, pero para finales del 2025 se estará utilizando en 30 instalaciones.

Durante el primer año, el centro permitió ahorrar $300,000 (trescientos mil) en costos de gas y electricidad, además de ahorros extras gracias a una mayor vida útil de los equipos y de los incentivos para los servicios públicos.

In its continued effort to enhance sustainability, Intermountain Health is celebrating a new Remote Operations Center (ROC) that tracks and monitors energy use at larger facilities and has helped save more than half a million dollars in the first year by finding and eliminating energy waste.

 The ROC’s system uses billions of data points to track energy use and find inefficiencies in systems not working properly. In a facility as large as a hospital, inefficiencies can be hard to find and often aren’t discovered until something breaks down.

 “To keep a large building comfortable for patients it takes a lot of systems working together just right, and there’s a lot of spots where things can go wrong,” said Matt Wilson, remote operations center manager for Intermountain Health. “This new system picks up the smallest problems so we can find it and fix it.”

 The ROC was made possible by a partnership with Rocky Mountain Power’s Wattsmart Business Program. Through the program Intermountain Health received technical guidance, and incentives for reducing its energy consumption.

 “Our partnership with Intermountain Health has not only saved money, but has increased energy efficiency and reduced our environmental impact,” said Jessen Doxey, regional business manager for Rocky Mountain Power. “The Wattsmart Business Program provides the savings and solutions designed to help companies reach their long-term goals.”

 One example of the operations center at work was a glitch discovered in a boiler that was rapidly turning on and off to maintain temperature at a medical clinic. Not only was this wasting energy but was leading to a catastrophic failure of the boiler. By discovering the problem early, maintenance crews were able to fix the issue, so it runs properly.

 The ROC is currently in use at 18 Intermountain Health facilities in Utah and Idaho but will expand to 30 by the end of 2025.

 In the first year the center saved around $300,000 in gas and electricity cost, with other savings coming from extended equipment life, and utility incentives.

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