To read about the history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard is to read about the history of the U.S. Navy and key events in the early life of this country. In 1776, General Washington moved his troops from this area to Manhattan when retreating from British soldiers during the Battle of Long Island. A private shipyard was established in the surrounding muddy marshlands in 1781 and was purchased for $40,000 by the fledgling U.S. Navy in 1801 for what would become known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Many well-known ships were constructed at the yard over the next 150 years. The first to be built, the
USS Ohio, was one of the largest battleships of its time and was launched in 1820. The
USS Monitor was outfitted and commissioned at the yard in 1862 before the Battle at Hampton Roads against the CSS Virginia. The USS Maine was commissioned in 1895 to begin the "battleship era" and served as a call to arms three years later when it was sunk in Havana Harbor, sparking the Spanish-American War. The USS Arizona was launched from the yard in 1915 only to experience a similar fate at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
During WWII, the yard's workforce peaked at 70,000 with many "Rosie the Riveters" doing their part for the war effort. In the mid-1950s the yard turned out three of the new "super carriers," but by the early 1960s major shipbuilding contracts had migrated to lower-cost yards. The Brooklyn Navy Yard was closed in 1966 and later sold to the City of New York for $24 million. Today, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. (www.brooklynnavyyard.com) is a thriving 300-acre industrial park including 40 buildings and more than 200 tenants as it enters its third century of service.
Powering the fleet
Tucked away in one corner of the yard is the Brooklyn Navy Yard Cogeneration (BNYC) facility – the lifeblood of this thriving complex and an important part of the New York electric and steam systems. BNYC (Figure 1), by virtue of its strategic location across the East River from downtown Manhattan, provides steam to Consolidated Edison's (ConEd) steam system, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. (BNYDC), and New York City's Red Hook Wastewater Treatment Plant. Electricity is sold to ConEd under a long-term power purchase agreement.
1. Location, location, location. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Cogeneration Facility provides power to the Consolidated Edison grid and steam to Consolidated Edison's steam heat system in Manhattan, across the East River. Courtesy: Delta Power Co.
2. Steamy business. The cogeneration plant consists of two 120-MW Siemens gas turbines, two HRSGs, and two 40-MW steam turbines. Turbine exhaust steam is sent to the steam heat system. Courtesy: Delta Power Co.
3. Historic yard. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Cogeneration Facility is located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.'s 300-acre industrial park. Courtesy: Delta Power Co.
In 2001, after five years of operation, circumstances forced then-owner Edison Mission Energy to consider selling the plant. Developers with wads of cash to invest were common at that time, and a deal was quickly struck. The good news was that the deal fizzled right before closing when Enron collapsed; the bad news was that money supplies had dried up—as had prospective purchasers. Then the other shoe dropped.
Despite the plant's successful operation during its first few years, a hidden unrecognized problem lurked beneath the surface. An inadequately designed water treatment system led to water chemistry problems, causing flow-accelerated corrosion and other problems on the cold end of the unit, resulting in extensive water-side damage; additionally, gas-side deposits reduced the heat exchanged effectiveness of the finned tubes. The problems came to light with a water leak in 1999 followed by several steam line leaks.
Water chemistry was ultimately confirmed as the root cause of the problems, and new treatment regimens were instituted to permanently solve them. However, irreversible damage had occurred, and major investments were needed to replace approximately 50% of the HRSG surface area (36 harps) and other miscellaneous parts. At the same time major changes were under way in the New York wholesale electricity markets that added more uncertainty to a deal that most investors weren't ready to tackle. Understanding technical risk is not an investment banker's forte.
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