Waste Water Plant Adds $3.25 Million Worth of Solar

The contract will require a $1.9 million rebate from the NJ Board of Public Utilities Office of Clean Energy and a low-interest loan from the NJ Environmental Infrastructure Trust program.

Under the joint venture agreement, WorldWater & Power will supply all solar-related equipment, engineering and design services, and Conti will provide construction services and construction project management.

The entire 500 kW project should be completed by October of 2005, according to ACUA. The first phase involves installation of solar panels over the parking lot and on three rooftops at the plant. The final phase will consist of installing three ground-mounted arrays at open areas around the site. The new solar panels will provide an estimated two to three percent of the energy needed to power the wastewater facility. Collectively, the arrays are expected to provide an annual output of 660,000 kWh.

"Each new project brings the ACUA closer to independence of fossil fuels," ACUA President Richard Dovey said. "With the installation of solar panels and five wind turbines in the near future, our wastewater treatment facility will, at times, be entirely powered by clean, renewable, alternative energy. The ACUA has long been a leader in protecting our environment and is hoping to serve as an example to the community as proponents of alternative energy and stewards of our water and land."

The ACUA will be responsible for maintenance and operation of the alternative energy system. All electricity produced by the solar panels will be used for ACUA operations at the wastewater treatment plant, none will be sold to the power grid.

The addition of solar energy is just one of many alternative energy projects that the ACUA is pursuing. Many may know of the upcoming five-turbine, US $12 million dollar wind energy project at the same site Atlantic City site, but the authority has installed many renewable energy projects in the county, including:

- a geothermal heating and cooling unit installed at its Egg Harbor Township Building
- a landfill gas to energy generation system
- using biodiesel fuel on a temporary basis, and plans to convert its entire diesel fleet of 102 trucks and equipment to biodiesel fuel by early summer
- using reclaimed wastewater for the wastewater treatment plant's sludge furnace scrubber
- considering a heat recovery project to produce electricity by recovering heat from the biosolids incinerator.

"Each new project brings the ACUA closer to independence of fossil fuels. With the installation of solar panels and five wind turbines in the near future, our wastewater treatment facility will, at times, be entirely powered by clean, renewable, alternative energy," Dovey said. "The ACUA has long been a leader in protecting our environment and is hoping to serve as an example to the community as proponents of alternative energy and stewards of our water and land."