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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSewardCityNews Sept 2015City of Seward, Science, Technology Seward approves grant for ocean-warmed clean energy project September 13, 2015 6:18 pm·Views: 132 Test well site, and potentially the first of a series located along the Seward waterfront, and Resurrection Bay, the clean energy source whose warmed water flows 300 feet beneath the ground’s surface, ready to heat nearby buildings. Heidi Zemach photo. By Heidi Zemach for SCN – Seward recently moved an important step closer to reducing its energy dependence and fostering renewable energy by agreeing to apply for an $850,000 grant for an innovative ocean-warmed heat-district system from the Alaska Energy Authority Renewable Energy Fund, and promising that the city would contribute $85,000. Seward has the lucky distinction of being located on Resurrection Bay, which is not only a scenic treasure for locals and tourists to enjoy and sail, fish and sightsee upon, but, it turns out, is also an unlimited ready source of clean warm energy that can be tapped into to supply floor heat to area buildings. The project, designed by Andy Baker, an Anchorage-based engineer and owner of Your Clean Energy LLC, would create a renewable energy heating district downtown. It would employ a series of vertical heat loops from piping placed 200- 300 feet into the ground along the Seward waterfront, to run an environmentally-safe antifreeze liquid, pre-heated by the seawater directly to the nearby library museum, city hall, the city annex and volunteer fire station. The loop could be hooked into to create a new public shower building at the campsite, and could potentially be expanded to include other buildings. Getting those four city buildings off traditional heating oil could potentially save the city $76,000 in fuel costs every year, according to city estimates. The project also would be a green- energy novelty that would enable Seward to boast itself as being on the cutting edge of renewable energy possibilities, and home to the furthest north ocean source district heat system in North America. Denali Drillers start a vertical bore test hole in the lawn adjacent to the Branson Pavilion as they seek ocean heat to warm City of Seward Buildings. Heidi Zemach photo. The ocean heat-pump project that Baker recently designed for Alaska SeaLife Center, also used heat from Resurrection Bay. It brought saltwater directly into the center basement from a water intake pipe in the bay, and connected it to the building’s existing floor heating and water-heat system. It was similar in concept, and proved that the bay’s subsurface temperatures, brought into the coastal area from the equator in large ocean gyres and stored in the deep bathtub-like bay, trapped under a layer freshwater runoff, are ideal for heating large buildings. Incredibly, the temperature continues to warm up throughout the summer and fall until the temperature peaks in November, when fuel demand begins to be highest. The center’s heat pumps have halved the sea life center’s energy bill and reduced its carbon footprint, and have almost completely replaced its diesel boiler heating system. “It’s awesome. I think it’s really a step in the right direction for sure,” said Councilwoman Rissie Casagranda. “And it’s going to put us in the spotlight as far as green energy in the state.” The main issue council raised, following Baker’s presentation to the council, was the hope that the council would be motivated to continue moving forward with other proposals that have been suggested to increase city’s efficiency and lower heating costs for ordinary residents and small businesses, she said. “I supported the resolution, as the entire council did, and I think Seward’s always been an innovative community, and hopefully this grant application will be approved,” said Vice Mayor Marianna Keil. “It was a very in-depth presentation, and I think a lot of good data will go in the grant application, so I’m pretty excited about the whole project.” Baker’s grant application will have the latest, very positive-looking results from recent monitoring of the water column’s temperature at various depths, salinity, tides and conditions, through a pipe lowered into an initial 300-foot bore hole that was drilled last month near the Branson Pavilion and skate park. That pipe would be the first in a series that would have to be drilled, but the only pipe left visible above the surface of the ground. The city had already made some efficiency improvements to its buildings, and plans to replace at least 24 decorative street lights along Fourth Avenue with more efficient LED bulbs and a new single-bulb system. The bulb and streetlight replacement work should begin in the near future. “The project has its merits, it also has its risks. If we can save money in the long run then it will be worthwhile,” said Dave Squires, the former Seward fire chief and a council member. “This is a demonstration project so if it works out, it could be something that can be expanded to benefit the rest of the community.” Squires questioned Baker and the city manager about what would happen if there is an extended power outage, and learned that all the pumps in each of the four buildings would need a backup resource. Only two of the four buildings already have one. A portable generator could be plugged into the new library museum, but the city annex building would have to be retrofitted. He also wondered what would happen to the liquid that circulates in the pipes, whether it would freeze, and how long it would take to recover heat-loss to the buildings. These are questions that should ideally be addressed early on in the process, he said, as the details will add cost to the project. The city should learn if they’ve been approved for the grant by early 2016. If approved, the system could be completed by next December.