West County Waste Water District Uses Solar to Lock in Electricity Costs with No Out of Pocket Expense
Posted on: Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 12:00 CST
RICHMOND, Calif., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- West County Wastewater District
(WCWD), Solar Power Partners, Inc. (SPP) and Premier Power Renewable Energy
(Premier Power: PPRW) jointly announced today the completion of a solar energy
system designed to replace 35 percent of WCWD's annual electricity usage with
clean, renewable solar energy at zero out-of-pocket costs. Solar Power
Partners, which owns and operates the solar equipment, set up a power purchase
agreement (PPA) with WCWD. The agreement enables WCWD to buy the electricity
at a contractually fixed rate (essential in its budgeting process), helping it
to manage its operating costs and keep billings as low as possible for its
ratepayers.
In addition, the installation, designed and installed by Premier Power,
represents the largest dual-axis, sun-tracking solar power project in the
United States. Premier Power located 89 dual-axis trackers, manufactured by ET
Solar, across the WCWD Richmond treatment facility site, including 28 trackers
that rise above the potential high-water line of a storm-water storage pond.
Premier Power built all of the tracking towers to withstand flooding and
submersion while meeting all seismic restrictions and solving soil engineering
challenges. WCWD will host a ribbon cutting ceremony on February 18 to
dedicate the system.
"The West County Wastewater District is a great example of a public entity
acting as an environmental steward in its daily operations. Their strong
environmental record is now enhanced by their use of clean renewable power to
power the plant," said Alex von Welczeck, President and CEO, Solar Power
Partners. "This project is also a perfect example of where a municipal entity
can join hands with the private sector to deploy solar at no cost to the
ratepayers. WCWD is making dual-purpose use out of its land, helping solve
global warming and building budgeting stability for its ratepayers. We are
proud to count WCWD as our customer."
E.J. Shalaby, General Manager at the West County Wastewater District
added, "In terms of using renewable energy to help run our treatment plants,
there is no debate. One of our main tasks is to promote environmental
responsibility and compliance. As a public agency, however, the upfront costs
for purchasing a solar energy system were high and difficult to justify since
we could not take advantage of federal tax credits. When SPP approached us
with an option to lock in the price for 35 percent of our electricity usage,
using a PPA and renewable energy generated on site, it made perfect sense.
Although the original design turned out to be more challenging than expected,
due to the nature of the soils on our site, SPP helped find an alternative
solution. SPP engaged Premier Power who brought in a completely new
technology, dual-axis trackers. The solar panels follow the sun increasing the
system's efficiency by up to 35 percent compared to a similar sized system
mounted in a fixed position. The solution is elegant, and the PPA structure is
helping us keep costs down for our rate payers."
President of Premier Power, Dean R. Marks added, "Our engineering team
discovered this large scale tracker solution out of our European operations
and felt that their design and capabilities provided the best option for
meeting the site challenges and production needs of WCWD and SPP. This project
is an excellent example of Premier Power's ability to leverage its
international best practices and unique engineering and design capabilities in
collaboration and coordination with the planning, managing and financial
modeling expertise of SPP. The project faced both economic and technical
challenges that Premier and SPP combined to overcome... We hope that the
success of this project will motivate other municipal entities to explore
renewable energy solutions."
About the System
WCWD's installation spans five acres of land and consists of 89 tracking
arrays. Measuring approximately 22-by-36 feet each, the arrays contain 56
modules with a total peak power of about 11.24 kilowatts (kW) each. The
trackers sit above ground on concrete ballasts, which distribute the weight
and enable use on the challenging Bay Mud and other soils of the site. At the
end of the system's life, WCWD can remove the trackers and ballasts, returning
the land to its original state, leaving no trace of the structures. Premier
Power designed the system to produce approximately 1.97 million kilowatt-hours
(kWh) of electricity annually.
For comparison, the electricity generated onsite would be approximately
enough to meet the annual needs of 3,654 California homes or would be like
parking 257 passenger vehicles for a whole year, avoiding the yearly CO2
emissions from using more than 3,265 barrels of oil or from consuming 159,353
gallons of gasoline.
About SPP
Solar Power Partners, Inc. (SPP) is a California-based renewable energy
company that is leading the way in streamlining the adoption of clean solar
energy by businesses, institutions and municipalities throughout the United
States. Combining the financing strength of solar Power Purchase Agreements
(PPAs) with the expertise and best practices of top solar and building
industry professionals, SPP gives building owners a clear path to achieving
energy independence with lower electrical costs at predictable rates and
without the risks or costs of owning and maintaining solar facilities. For
more information visit http://www.solarpowerpartners.com.
For additional information, call Sierra Fong at (415) 877-1455 or e-mail:
sfong@solarpowerpartners.com
About WCWD
The mission of the West County Wastewater District is to provide
wastewater collection from its greater than 30,000 connections in the best
practicable and reliable manner possible and to provide reliable high quality
wastewater treatment prior to reuse or discharge to San Francisco Bay.
For additional information, call WCWD General Manager E.J. Shalaby at
(510) 222-6700. http://www.wcwd.org.
About Premier Power
Premier Power Renewable Energy, Inc. (http://www.premierpower.com) is a
leading global provider of small to large-scale solar power systems,
delivering unmatched experience to commercial, agricultural and residential
customers throughout North America and Spain. Premier Power's industry-leading
products, technologies and services have enabled its customers to maximize
clean energy output along with project savings. Today, Premier Power designs
and deploys the most innovative solar electric systems through market-leading
innovation and exceptional customer service.
For additional information, call Premier Power Director of Business
Development Greg Page at (877) 939-0400 or e-mail: gpage@premierpower.com
SOURCE Premier Power Renewable Energy, Inc.
Source: PR Newswire
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