On the heels of a study by EID staff and Black and Veatch, district officials presented the EID Board of Directors with several options including a hydroelectric study, solar, wind and bio-gas study.
'Staff has been investigating renewable energy opportunities within EID's existing infrastructure and the board asked us to present an update on our research,' said Len Marino, co-manager Hydroelectric/Watershed Management Division. 'We looked at several different sites and several different technologies.'
Marino told directors that EID staff looked into project economics, environmental benefits and district ownership options
'That's kind of the screening tools that we used in putting this all together,' he said. 'Obviously we want to take money out of energy and hedge against future energy escalation. We looked at the initial capital outlay to get the project in the ground. Life cycles and operation and maintenance expenses were factored in.'
He also said that staff looked at ownership options, including the district owning the system or third party ownership options.
'We also considered a floating solar voltaic system plant at El Dorado Hills because they have the biggest lake for floating and Bass Lake was another site as far as floating,' Marino said 'As far as bio-gas combustion, what we're doing is we generate some bio-gas at El Dorado Hills and we did look into it, but we're finding that it's not economical at this point. We may consider it again when we do the third phase of the (expansion) project.'
He said staff looked all over the world to find a floating solar photovoltaic panel project and found the SHARP factory in Japan.
'They actually have floating solar cells sitting in a lake there. It's really just for show,' he said. 'It generates at a cost of $9,000 per kilowatt, which is not really economical.'
He also suggested a device called SolarBees, which float and sit on the surface of waste water ponds. They have a self-contained system that generates power to a little aeration device that keeps the water stirred up.
'We're finding that floating solar is not going to work for EID, because there is just so much land around where we can build the same system on it for a lot cheaper,' Marino said.
Director George Osborne asked Marino if during the study, did staff inquire into agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation or some other agency that might want to embark on something of that nature.
'Sometimes if there's a first kid on the block, so to speak, there's extensive grant money out there that you don't get otherwise,' Osborne said.
Marino said staff looked, but couldn't find anyone interested.
Director John Fraser said there was no point in chasing rainbows when referring to the floating solar panel system.
'We can still get grants to build land-based systems that are going to be a lot cheaper per kilowatt.' Marino said.
Fraser then asked what the status of the district's current solar project at the El Dorado Hills Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant celebrated it's first anniversary in June. The array consists of 3.5 acres of solar panels. In its first year of operation, the system had generated 1.6 million kilowatts. PG&E funded $2.7 million of the roughly $6 million project.
'It's working out very well,' Marino said. 'The money is coming in and the plant is working better than our expectations. The payback is a little more like eight years instead of 12.'
Marino also said staff considered the installation of solar photovoltaic panels at many sites throughout the district.
Marino also said a company that uses wave technology would be meeting with EID staff.
'I ran into this gentleman about three years ago at one of the hydro conferences and I explained our system to him,' Marino said. 'He was very excited about it and came out here about two years ago. We took him around and we really couldn't find a place where his system would work. He called me again about a month ago and they've got this new generator they think will work in the Project 184 canal.'
As far as hydroelectric power is concerned, the study determined that two sites are worthy of further analysis, Sly Park Dam and a Pressure Reducing Station on the El Dorado Main. He also said the district will look at advanced turban designs.
'What Len is presenting to you is that he's keeping the doors open to any and all options,' said Steve Setoodeh, department head of Facilities Management.
Director Harry Norris said from what he heard during the presentation, maybe the district needs to wait for the technology and maybe the grant availability to catch up. He also said given the district's shortage of engineering talent, he wouldn't want to spend a lot of time looking at options.
'This overview was very helpful, but I wouldn't want to spend much more time on it,' he said.
After some further discussion, the presentation ended. Directors, Osborne, Norris, Fraser and Bill George did not need to vote on the item as it was presented for information only.
E-mail Charlotte Sanchez-Kosa at ckosa@mtdemocrat.net or call 344-5061.
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