The Theme is Green -- Coast Guard Activates Another Renewable Energy Facility
If you have been following the President or the White House Blog then you know that a "Green" Federal government is a top priority of President Obama. So much so that the White House is encouraging every Federal employee to submit their "Green" ideas to improve Federal sustainability. Your ideas are still welcome and can be submitted online until the end of this month.
The Coast Guard is doing its part both internally and externally. Across the service, there are outstanding examples of ways that the Coast Guard is "Going Green". Additionally, we are demonstrating our committment to being leaders in the maritime community for improving our stewardship of the environment, as shown by our active role in the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and our cooperative efforts with the International Maritime Organization and maritime industries.
Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, Calif., provides just the latest example of our green initiatives. Oct. 24 the training center hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony with Congresswoman Woolsey and RADM Sullivan for its newly built four-acre solar array field. This solar initiative was completed through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). In a PPA, a contractor builds, owns and operates a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on Coast Guard property and sells the energy back to the Coast Guard unit at a contracted rate. Because of the scarcity of current AC&I funding for renewable energy projects, a PPA was identified as the best contract vehicle for this innovative energy project. This is the first power purchase agreement in the history of the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The PPA was awarded to SilRay, Inc. of Palo Alto, California, in February 2009 and construction was completed early October 2009. The project constructed a solar array comprised of 5,232 panels that produce 875 kW at peak performance. When combined with the training center's existing 125 kW of solar PV systems, built in 2003, this new project provides the base a total of 1 MW of solar PV production.
The new array is estimated to save $1.5M in energy costs over the life of the project and prevent the release of over 2,000,000 lbs of CO2 greenhouse gas per year into the atmosphere. This solar array also helps the Coast Guard meet the stringent requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) without the capital outlay required for new projects. The construction of this solar array is a significant engineering project that not only increases production of "green" renewable energy but also positively impacts the environment for the next 25 years.
This is just one of many energy and water savings initiatives under the training center's "Petaluma Green" Program. "Petaluma Green" is a multi-faceted program undertaken by their Facilities Engineering Division that implements the use of renewable energy, energy conservation, water conservation and the protection of natural resources. Besides the 1MW of solar arrays, other renewable energy and conservation projects include:
-- Solar heat system for the base swimming pool
-- Solar powered streetlights, security gate and seismic monitoring station.
-- Energy conservation measures including the use of tankless water heaters, cool roof technology, energy efficient lighting, energy star appliances, vending machine misers, solar light tubes, sky lighting, variable frequency drives, high efficiency boilers, and the installation of energy efficient window glazing.
-- Water conservation projects include the installation of low flow fixtures such as shower heads, toilets and faucets. Recent waterless urinal installations alone will reduce water use by 1.5 million gallons of potable water this year.
Training Center Petaluma has also worked diligently to utilize xeriscape to dramatically reduce the need for water irrigation in our common areas. Natural resource protection initiatives include asphalt reuse, recycling, mulching of downed trees, storm water retention, aquifer recharge, and clean fill reuse. Also recently completed was a project which dramatically reduced storm water infiltration into the sanitary sewer system, greatly reducing the amount of water requiring treatment.
The Coast Guard is doing its part both internally and externally. Across the service, there are outstanding examples of ways that the Coast Guard is "Going Green". Additionally, we are demonstrating our committment to being leaders in the maritime community for improving our stewardship of the environment, as shown by our active role in the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and our cooperative efforts with the International Maritime Organization and maritime industries.
Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, Calif., provides just the latest example of our green initiatives. Oct. 24 the training center hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony with Congresswoman Woolsey and RADM Sullivan for its newly built four-acre solar array field. This solar initiative was completed through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). In a PPA, a contractor builds, owns and operates a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on Coast Guard property and sells the energy back to the Coast Guard unit at a contracted rate. Because of the scarcity of current AC&I funding for renewable energy projects, a PPA was identified as the best contract vehicle for this innovative energy project. This is the first power purchase agreement in the history of the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The PPA was awarded to SilRay, Inc. of Palo Alto, California, in February 2009 and construction was completed early October 2009. The project constructed a solar array comprised of 5,232 panels that produce 875 kW at peak performance. When combined with the training center's existing 125 kW of solar PV systems, built in 2003, this new project provides the base a total of 1 MW of solar PV production.
The new array is estimated to save $1.5M in energy costs over the life of the project and prevent the release of over 2,000,000 lbs of CO2 greenhouse gas per year into the atmosphere. This solar array also helps the Coast Guard meet the stringent requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) without the capital outlay required for new projects. The construction of this solar array is a significant engineering project that not only increases production of "green" renewable energy but also positively impacts the environment for the next 25 years.
This is just one of many energy and water savings initiatives under the training center's "Petaluma Green" Program. "Petaluma Green" is a multi-faceted program undertaken by their Facilities Engineering Division that implements the use of renewable energy, energy conservation, water conservation and the protection of natural resources. Besides the 1MW of solar arrays, other renewable energy and conservation projects include:
-- Solar heat system for the base swimming pool
-- Solar powered streetlights, security gate and seismic monitoring station.
-- Energy conservation measures including the use of tankless water heaters, cool roof technology, energy efficient lighting, energy star appliances, vending machine misers, solar light tubes, sky lighting, variable frequency drives, high efficiency boilers, and the installation of energy efficient window glazing.
-- Water conservation projects include the installation of low flow fixtures such as shower heads, toilets and faucets. Recent waterless urinal installations alone will reduce water use by 1.5 million gallons of potable water this year.
Training Center Petaluma has also worked diligently to utilize xeriscape to dramatically reduce the need for water irrigation in our common areas. Natural resource protection initiatives include asphalt reuse, recycling, mulching of downed trees, storm water retention, aquifer recharge, and clean fill reuse. Also recently completed was a project which dramatically reduced storm water infiltration into the sanitary sewer system, greatly reducing the amount of water requiring treatment.
Posted at
9:48 AM
1 Comments:
Admiral,
Great post on Petaluma's solar array field. Enjoyed the read. Thank you.
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