Power Connect Newsletter

Like many other health and critical care facilities, Piedmont Newton Hospital in Covington, Ga, is required to provide a backup power solution that ensures their patients and staff have access to the facility’s electronic equipment and state-of-the-art technology at all times. Having experienced growth over the last 60 years, the hospital now consists of over 750 employees and 250 physicians committed to providing dependable healthcare in a building that spans over 300,000 square feet. From orthopedics and a hyperbaric care center to sports medicine and emergency care, the hospital is not only a mainstay for healthcare in Georgia’s Newton County but also a facility that anticipates future growth.

With plans for expansion in the years to come, the hospital decided to evaluate its backup power needs with Generac Power Systems’ industrial dealer Energy Systems Southeast (ESSE). After performing on-site assessments and discussing emergency load requirements, ESSE’s sales manager Jared Pierson suggested replacing the site’s outdated power system with a modular paralleling system (MPS) consisting of four 600 kW diesel-powered generators.

“The current building load was nearing 1 MW with plans for future growth and expansion,” said Pierson. “The four-times-600 kW configuration offered n+2 redundancy on their current building load with n+1 redundancy as the hospital continues to grow.”

The combined output of the system’s four generators, all of which featured onboard paralleling capabilities, minimized the application’s footprint and eliminated the need for paralleling switchgear. ESSE’s recommendation for an updated solution also offered enhanced wattage outputs for unique load requirements, making the system scalable to accommodate the hospital’s future growth.

In addition to meeting the site’s future plans for expansion, this new application will allow Piedmont Newton to meet the emergency power load and duration requirements set by Joint Commission standards. These testing and reporting regulations were also supported by an OmniMetrix remote monitoring system, which was provided to continuously monitor the status of generator power. New testing capabilities will also offer a cost-savings to the hospital, as the units will be able to remain online during product testing.

“Preventative maintenance and load bank testing will no longer require a roll-up mobile generator to provide backup power during the testing while the generator was offline, as it did for their old backup system,” said Pierson.

Since commissioning was completed in November 2016, Piedmont Newton is now equipped with an MPS solution that addresses the hospital’s current emergency load requirements and offers room for future site development. Duke McNary, director of Engineering at Piedmont Newton Hospital, has been pleased with the end result.
“As a critical care facility, we are held to high standards,” said McNary. “Knowing that we have a reliable backup power source ready when we need it is both peace of mind for the hospital and those it serves in the Covington community.”

Learn more about Generac’s MPS solutions and simplified generator paralleling applications.