Energy Management and Funding
Sources at Water Infrastructure
Facilities
Photovoltaic and Microturbine facilities at the
Westcott Tank Project
Matt Marko – CH2MHill
Zack Knight – CH2MHill
Eric Murdock – City of Syracuse Water
Department
Mike Ryan - Mohawk Valley Water Authority
The Big Picture
• Westcott Tanks
Project description
Funding sources
Addition of the energy component
Green vs green
Energy and Water – an overview
• Fundamental equations of energy in fluid
dynamics
• Historical aspects in Syracuse water system
• -Gravity flow
Photovoltaics
• Historical
• -1905
• -1954
• -today
Incorporation of Photovoltaics into the
project
•The Tuesday morning meeting
• -The zero carbon footprint.
• -Studying energy
• -Making energy
Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP)
• Administered by New York State Environmental
Facilities Corporation (NYSEFC) as part of the
ARRA (Stimulus)
• 90% grant for shovel-ready “green” drinking water
and clean water projects
• $44.4M committed in first round; a second round
(Fall 2010) is expected to award another $15M
• Syracuse obtained grants for 50kW photovoltaic
(PV) system and 56kW hydroturbine (HT) system
at Westcott
• Projects required design and construction
contractor procurement complete within 4 months
of announcement of award
50kW PV System Design
• 50kW (DC) size selected to meet existing
power demands at site
• Performance-based specification
• Minimum qualifications for installation
contractor established due to high-voltage
direct current (DC) electronics
• Wind design criteria is important; at
Westcott the design wind speed was 90 mph
• A ballasted (versus anchored) system was
chosen by the contractor, which is feasible
for design wind speeds of up to 130 mph
50kW PV System Design (continued)
• Shading factor (accounts for any obstructions of
the sun) was negligible, thus a stationary array was
chosen (tracking systems are available but reduce
efficiency)
• A new 3-phase service was added due to
requirements for the HT and future UV plant at site
(3-phase DC-AC inverters are also more cost
efficient)
• Other design considerations:
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Tilt angle (a footprint-wind lift tradeoff)
Minimum voltage drop
Warranty
Communications requirements
Utility interconnection application / requirements
DC vs. AC specified wattage
PV System Layout
• The South Tank was chosen
(shorter conduit runs)
• The array will have 216 monocrystalline
panels (thin film panel technology was not
considered to minimize footprint)
• The array footprint is approximately 10,000
square feet with a 10 tilt angle
• Each tank is approximately 375-foot in
diameter, or 100,000 square feet, providing
space to expand to at least 250kW per tank
• Spare conduit provided to expand the South
Tank system up to 250kW in the future
Simulated PV Layout
Anticipated Appearance
(Note – tilt angle at Westcott will be lower)
PV System Financial Summary
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*Assumes system life of 25 years with no scrap value
PV System Cash Flow Diagram
PV System Environmental Impact Analysis
• Over an assumed 25-year life cycle, the system will reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 972 tons CO2/year*,
equivalent to the other CO2 productions listed below
*Assumes 1.37 lb CO2/kWh of conventional energy and an average PV system
output of 56,760 kWh/yr.
56kW Hydroturbine (HT) System Design
• Skaneateles Lake, at approximately 864 feet
USGS, is approximately 245 feet above the
overflow elevation at Westcott Reservoir
• Excess hydraulic head is removed at key
points in the Syracuse supply conduit
system, which is approximately 18 miles long
• The HT system is designed to remove
between 55-80 feet (25-35 psi) of head
• System will have two (2) 10” Cornell turbines
capable of conveying a combined 11 MGD
City of Syracuse Water Supply System
Westcott Supply Conduit Hydraulic Grade Line
HT Equipment Design
• Much of the HT market is focused on large
volume and/or high head, often open channel
flow projects near dams and lakes
• Small, in-pipe hydroturbines (also called
microturbines) are niche market for pump
manufacturers (account for <5% of sales)
• HT package vendors, which provide a mostly
“skid-mounted” system (generator, switchgear, hydraulic powering unit, etc.), are also a
niche market
• Niche markets can limit options and have
schedule impacts
HT Layout, Valving, and Control
• 42-inch reservoir inlet/outlet piping, reduced
to 16-inch and ultimately 10-inch turbine inlet
• Straight inlet run reduces thrust into turbine;
after turbine turns 90° to outlet
• Inlet valve provided with turbine package,
which closes in a power outage
• Outlet valve in vault for remote control and
SCADA monitoring
• Buried butterfly valves on outlet provides
redundancy and manual shutdown capability
Hydroturbine Vault 3D Model
Westcott Hydroturbine Performance Curve
Hydroturbine Other Design Considerations
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Thrust restraint: grooved couplings before and after flanged
turbine system ends
Vault structural and sump design
Man entry and equipment hatches
Electrical design between turbine panel and utility service
panel/meter
Must submit application to power utility – turbine is
considered an induction generator and requires a utility
planning/grid study and design review prior to
interconnection and net metering
Turbine System Elevation Cut Sheet
Project Photos (Courtesy of Canyon Hydro)
55kW Cornell turbine inside dam vault
Cornell turbine – alternative layout
28kW Pelton turbine; discharge to WTP clearwell
245kW Pelton turbine between reservoir and WTP
Westcott RE Project Progress
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PV system is pending installation of the 3-phase power
service and activation by utility
HT system electrical in utility review and in the process of
being manufactured; vault and piping complete
Both systems anticipated to be active late Fall 2010
RE Project Challenges
• Available resources
• Available land area
• Environmental impacts
– wildlife
– wetlands
• Public acceptance
– visual impacts
• Electrical interconnection
Future RE for Syracuse Water Department
• A future UV treatment facility will add up to 150kW
continuous power demand at Westcott, for which
additional tank-mounted PV arrays could provide
more RE
• Woodland Reservoir not viable for turbines
• Additional solar or small wind projects feasible at
other City properties
In Summary…
Why consider RE at your utility?
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Short lead time for most projects
Capital cost is coming down
Incentives are available
Reduce environmental footprint of operations
Maximizing use of site renewable resources
Provide a hedge against utility rate increases
Questions?