Photo By Michael Maddox | There are currently four generators in the CUP with provisions to add another...... read more read more
Hospitals and medical centers need the ability to provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter the status of utilities in the surrounding area. The new Louisville VA Medical Center is being built with this in mind.
That is why the Central Utility Plant on the hospital property is essential in ensuring veterans will be able to continue to receive care in the event of any local emergency situations that may disrupt power to the medical center. Along with boilers and chillers, the Central Utility Plant will house several generators that can be used if local power is not available.
“The medical center needs these generators to ensure that our life safety, emergency, and critical power systems can remain in operation even during a power outage at the utility level,” said Mackenzie Lawrence, electrical technical reviewer for the Louisville VA Medical Center construction project. “These systems ensure that necessary power remains even in the face of emergency situations.”
“Just like at your house, if there was a strong storm and the power went out due to a problem at the utility level, the generators allow for the hospital to maintain the required lighting, equipment, and emergency systems to minimize effects to those in the hospital.”
There are currently four generators in the CUP with provisions to add another generator in the future, if desired. Each of the four generators is rated for 3 megawatts, making the total of the generator power production 12 megawatts.
“To put it in perspective for people, one of our three megawatt generators generates enough power for around 2,000 houses. This is a lot of power, but the hospital needs all of that power to be able to provide reliable power in the midst of emergency situations,” Lawrence explained.
Since the generators will only operate during times of emergency, there are systems in place to make sure they start as soon as a power loss is detected, Lawrence said.
“The generator system is integrally connected into the normal power system to make sure that the moment power is lost from the utility, the emergency system is already notified and beginning to take over seamlessly,” she said.
Charles Spencer, mechanical engineer on the Louisville VA Medical Center project, explained how a loss of power initiates generator start-up.
“There are automatic control switches that allow the generators to feed essential items if there is a loss of utility power. If there is, the generators must be fully online with 10 seconds of sensing loss of power,” he said. “Fully online means the automatic transfer switches have detected loss of power. They must not only detect that there is a power loss, but where it is. This is also the case even if power loss is not necessarily total. The generators are then commanded to start.”
Spencer added that the generators are fueled by a large and complex 50,000-gallon fuel oil system. “At full use (powering boilers and generators) the tanks would last almost nine days. This is very unlikely, but it is possible, so we’ve built for that.”
The Louisville VA Medical Center is a $960 million project that includes the construction of a new 910,115 square-foot medical center, parking structures, a 42,205 square-foot central utility plant, roadways, sidewalks, and other site improvements.
The new 104-bed, full-service hospital will provide world-class healthcare for more than 45,000 Veterans in Kentucky and Southern Indiana by integrating modern patient-centered care concepts to provide the best possible care for Veterans. In addition, to specifically address the needs of women Veterans, the new hospital will include a Women’s Health Clinic with four Patient Aligned Care Teams.
The project designed by URS-Smith Group Joint Venture is being constructed by Walsh-Turner Joint Venture II, Chicago, Illinois.
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 03.31.2026 12:34 |
| Story ID: | 561649 |
| Location: | LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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