Tillamook County Creamery Association, a farmer-owned cooperative based in Tillamook, Oregon, USA, has been providing high quality dairy products for more than a century. Tillamook produces internationally recognized, award-winning cheese, as well as exceptional ice cream, butter, cream cheese spreads, yogurt and sour cream.
Certified B Corporation (B Corp)
Tillamook County Creamery Association is recognized as a Certified B Corporation (B Corp), which means it meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
Stewardship has always been a core value of Tillamook, and in recent years, company management strengthened its sustainability commitment in all areas of the business, including the boiler room. B Corp reflects how Tillamook values environmental, social and governance metrics just as much as other business metrics.
Replacing oil-firing boiler with electric boiler
Driven by environmental and other reasons, management wanted to replace its oil-firing boiler with an electric one
Prior to 2009, Tillamook County Creamery Association operated two 700-hp fire tube boilers that burned No. 2 oil. Driven by environmental and other reasons, management wanted to replace its oil-firing boiler with an electric one.
The Creamery Visitors Center is locally served by the Tillamook People’s Utility District (PUD) and at the time, PUD’s distribution voltage was 25kV.
CleaverBrooks 5.3MW-25kV electric boiler
Cleaver-Brooks is one of the only electrode boiler manufacturers in the world that can accept 25kV without transformation to a lower voltage. Eliminating a transformer of this size substantially reduced the cost of the overall project and simplified the installation.
The boiler model that Tillamook selected was a Cleaver-Brooks 5.3MW-25kV electric boiler. The pre-assembly and wiring done at the factory enabled boiler start-up to be completed in only six days, minimizing onsite work and erection costs.
Benefits
According to the Tillamook management, the Cleaver-Brooks electric boiler paid for itself in less than two years. Tillamook County Creamery Association has continued to grow steadily with small step-function changes along the way, while honoring an agreement with PUD, to limit electric power usage during busy times. To make up for the reduced capacity during these times, the facility runs fossil fuel boilers on propane or diesel.
In 2020, Cole Industrial, headquartered in Lynnwood, Washington, expanded the capacity of Tillamook’s boiler system from 5.3 MW of peak power to 6 MW in an effort to shift even more steam production from diesel/propane to electrical energy. This project was driven by a combination of cost savings and decreasing emissions.
In addition, since installing the electric boiler, Tillamook has reduced its diesel consumption along with corresponding emissions by 80% overall.