P3 for US university energy project

Dartmouth has hired Goldman Sachs consultants to explore options for constructing a new power plant. The College is also hoping to transition its steam heating system to a more efficient hot water loop system to make its energy infrastructure more sustainable.

The power plant next to the Hood Museum of Art, which was built in 1898, produces virtually all of the main campus’ heat and approximately 20 percent of its electricity consumption. The College is currently looking at potential locations for the new plant, which will replace nearly all of that energy production.

These energy infrastructure improvements are all part of Dartmouth’s sustainability goals. By 2025, they hope to obtain 50 percent of its energy supply from renewables, and 100 percent by 2050.

Goldman Sachs will aid the College in the search for private companies to help build the new plant, additionally, to explore partners to build new graduate housing, in which the College would give a private company rights to build new apartments in Sachem Village.

Goldman Sachs is working with the College to decide which plan to pursue, a process that will take two to three years. The college expects that the new plant will use biomass, a renewable energy source, instead of the heating oil currently used. They are also considering using wood chips as its biomass energy source. However, they are open to new ideas from potential partners.