Case Study: NAVFAC (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) achieves microgrid resiliency and $6.2M annual energy savings with Ameresco

NAVFAC - Customer Case Study

NAVFAC needed to eliminate downtime and improve energy resilience at the 4M sq. ft. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where loss of the public utility would threaten mission-critical operations. To address reliability and efficiency goals, NAVFAC engaged Ameresco under an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) to deploy a microgrid solution along with combined heat and power, energy storage, and long‑term operations & maintenance services.

Ameresco delivered a three‑phase ESPC that included a 10.4 MW / 280,000 lb/hr CHP plant (two 5.2 MW Solar Taurus 60 gas turbines), a 500 kW / 580 kWh battery energy storage system, new protective relaying and fast load‑shed microgrid controls, plus extensive steam, air, and lighting upgrades. The $44M project (plus a $3.6M DOD grant) gave the shipyard islanding capability, 10 MW winter / 5 MW summer / 14 MW emergency capacity, retired aging boilers, and measurable impact: annual energy savings reported at $6.2M (2016) and up to 43.165 million kWh saved, with improved reliability and reduced exposure to energy price volatility.

NAVFAC

Russell Gagner

Production Division Director