Without getting into nuclear, there are 3 basic types of power plants
Combined Cycle
Thermal
And Cogeneration
Combined cycle is the most efficient because, 1) the turbines are huge 2) it is a closed loop system that uses the waste heat to generate more electricity. The basic concept is you burn gas that expands like x6 which turn the turbines which turns the generators, the heat from this burned gas is then used to heat water, create steam, which turns steam turbines/generators.
The turbines used here are basically the same ones they use for Jet engines. Just as jets are replacing their old jets with more fuel efficient turbines, new power plants are being built to do the same. When I worked around this, I think a combined cycle plant had like 65% efficiency but that was 10 yrs ago.
Thermal just burns fuel, usually coal or fuel oil, to boil water to run the steam turbines. I think their efficiency is less than 50% (was).
Cogeneration – like your university used, is kind of like a combined cycle plant where they use the waste heat to generate another product that they need – usually either steam or cool air. To make these work, the plant needs to be fitted where the other product demand matches the waste heat generated. For your school, they were probably using this for heating or A/C. Since it is seasonal, the waste heat probably went unused for a good period of time.
In Thailand, they built this huge new airport out of glass. It is about 190 degrees there year around so it was the most inefficient structure ever. To help with that, they built their own cogeneration plant that supplied electricity to the airport and also A/C – which was needed 24/7. It was pretty efficient – probably like 58% but still not as high as a true combined cycle.
Hope that helps.
oh.. eat a dick pick