Medtronic

"This installation symbolizes Medtronic's long standing commitment to energy conservation and doing right by the environment. We're pleased to be the first within Medtronic to adopt this exciting technology and bring its value to our triple bottom line."

Erik Kunz Director of EHS & Facilities

Why Bloom?

Medtronic is the global leader in medical technology — alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic’s facilities in Santa Rosa support the Coronary and Structural Heart business as well as the Aortic and Peripheral Vascular business. The Fountaingrove site includes the largest of Medtronic’s Santa Rosa buildings, utilizing more than 4,300 MWh of electricity annually. The company has established a carbon reduction goal of 15% by 2020 for its global operations. The Santa Rosa facilities have implemented many energy efficiency improvements over the years, including the installation of a 320kW solar array in 2011. Still, Medtronic continued to seek alternatives to further reduce energy costs and related environmental impacts while providing a long-term reliable energy solution.

Implementation

Bloom Energy Servers generate on-site electricity with a highly efficient fuel cell technology that converts natural gas into electricity without combustion. The system generates a constant flow of electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The 400 kW Bloom Energy Servers will provide 96% of the electrical requirement for the Fountaingrove B building, while generating an estimated $2.3 million in energy savings over 15 years. By using Bloom Energy, the Medtronic Fountaingrove campus will increase the percentage of on-site electrical generation from approximately13% to more than 85%. It will also reduce its carbon emissions by 19%, the equivalent of taking 116 cars off the road annually. Finally, being 99.9% more water efficient than producing grid energy, the system will save 3M gallons of water annually.