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TIM CURRAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| People gather for a "Flip Switch" ceremony last month marking the completion of a two-year solar array construction project at the Columbia South Shore Well Field in outer east Portland. A joint venture between the City of Portland and Groundwater Solar LLC, the array was the largest solar-powered water utility station in the Pacific Northwest until Gresham's went online the following week. MEMO PHOTOS: TIM CURRAN |
Despite not relaying the facts correctly, Leonard was mostly accurate with the claim about the Pacific Northwest; this station is the largest solar-powered water utility station in the Pacific Northwest (it was until Gresham's went online the next week), and his Water Bureau ponied up $350,000 toward the project's cost.
From inception to completion the project took a little over two years. At a total cost of $2.1 million, Solar on the Slough has 1,274 solar panels generating about $26,000 worth of electricity annually, 10 percent of the Water Bureau's annual power usage at the CSSWF when pumping. The well field site is the Water Bureau's largest energy consumer. And, in keeping with the earth-friendly theme of this project, no shading trees adjacent to the site along the banks of the Columbia Slough were sacrificed.
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| Leonard throws the ceremonial switch marking the end of more than two years of meetings, planning, designing, engineering and construction. |
Water Bureau Principal Engineer David Peters, who was responsible for overseeing the project from beginning to end, said, "It's been an exciting opportunity to be involved in a project that sets us up well to be a sustainable organization. And to do that we had to break the molds, and a lot of unique things had to happen - the contracts that were required to make it happen, the number of parties involved. We really did break the mold, and that made this project really exciting. It was fun to have the opportunity to work with so many willing parties to make that a success."
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| Portland Water Bureau Sustainability Coordinator Kim Dinan, center, describes how the solar project helps meet the bureau's renewable energy goals. Speakers in the queue are City Commissioner Randy Leonard and Sandra Walden from Commercial Solar Ventures. |
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| Among the officials and dignitaries at last month's switch-flipping ceremony were, from left, Oregon State Rep. Lew Frederick, House Sustainability and Economic Development Committee member and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 Chapter President Eric Hayes. |
Between garnering the state and federal tax credits and selling the generated power, it will take six years for the owners to recoup their investment. After that, the city has a "flip agreement," allowing it to take over ownership and operation. The city will recoup its original investment over the next 11 years. Do the math: in 17 years it will all be gravy. The solar array has an expected life span of 25 to 30 years.
Located in outer east Portland at 16400 N.E. Airport Way and adjacent to the Columbia Slough, the Columbia South Shore Well Field was created in 1975 and began serving water customers for the first time during the summer of 1985.
Solar on the Slough helps the Water Bureau meet its 2007 Sustainability Plan goal of installing up to 400 kilowatt hours of renewable energy capacity.
At the ceremony, officials from the city and Groundwater Solar began preliminary discussions of more projects.
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