Distributed Energy Systems Corp (DESC) has been awarded a $3.1 million contract by Honeywell to provide a turnkey on-site combined heat and power (CHP) system for the United States Postal Service (USPS) Margaret L. Sellers Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in San Diego, California. The facility is the main mail handling facility for the San Diego district and supports more than 40 post offices within the performance cluster.

The turnkey CHP system will provide 1.5MW of electricity in normal operation; an amount equal to 85% of the Sellers facility's forecasted power requirements. Recovered heat from the engine's exhaust system will be used as input thermal energy for a 300-ton absorption chiller, which will, in turn, provide cooled water to the facility's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The new chiller will replace the facility's existing natural gas-fired absorption chiller and eliminate the need to purchase over 165,000 therms of natural gas annually. [ more ]