Superstorm experience prompts bi-fuel option

Five years after it devastated the East Coast, the impact from Superstorm Sandy is still reverberating in the City of Linden, New Jersey, underlining the need for a new source of emergency power.

“Immediately after Sandy hit, we were down for about 10 days we were 100 percent without grid power. We didn’t lose the critical systems like 911 dispatch and our computer system, but everything else pretty much came to a standstill at city hall,” recalls Al MacDonald, director of public property and community services for the City of Linden. The experience gained from going through Superstorm Sandy was the catalyst that prompted Linden officials to take action, MacDonald said.

The City of Linden opted to install a Cat® C27 generator set equipped with bi-fuel technology that enables the genset to run on both diesel and gas fuel. Cat dealer Foley Power Systems will maintain the genset through a Customer Support Agreement.

“The bi-fuel generator has the capability to provide power during emergency utility outages, as well as for non-emergency purposes,” MacDonald said. A large percentage of the diesel fuel is substituted with pipeline natural gas. A bi-fuel can provide at least twice the amount of run time from a stored volume of diesel fuel, so less onsite diesel fuel is required.

“Foley Power has been on top of the entire project from front to back,” MacDonald said. “They facilitated the interconnection with the electric utility the gas utility.

We’re more than pleased with how the whole project has been handled.”

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