Saturday, April 14, 2007
Fresno Airport will Plug into Solar Power
By Jeff St. John
The Fresno (CA) Bee
Fresno Yosemite International Airport soon will be home to the largest solar
power system of any airport in the country -- and under a plan approved this
week by the Fresno City Council, it shouldn't cost the city a dime.
That's because the 2-megawatt, $16 million solar system expected to be
completed by March 2008 will be owned and operated by the New Jersey-based
company that will build it, WorldWater & Power Corp.
In fact, under a power purchase agreement that is sweetened by state
incentives and rebates administered through Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the
new power system should save the airport about $13 million in electricity
bills over the next 20 years, said Russ Widmar, the city's aviation
director.
"We think it's a feather in our cap," Widmar said of the project, which is
expected to see construction begin this summer. "It's the right thing to do.
It continues the city's green policy, and, frankly, who wouldn't want to fix
a portion of their utility bill for 25 years at rates that are comparable to
today?"
That's the key to the project's cost savings, he said. With electricity
costs increasing an average of 6% per year, being able to provide a slice of
the airport's power needs at locked-in rates is almost certain to save
money, he said.
After 20 years, the airport will take ownership of the system but will
continue to work with WorldWater & Power under a set of operations and
maintenance agreements for another five years, Widmar said.
The solar power system itself will be made up of 25 acres of photovoltaic
solar panels spread across two locations, he said.
The first, an empty field owned by the airport at the southeast corner of
Clovis and McKinley avenues, lies in the airport's restricted "clear zone,"
meaning no buildings can be erected on it, Widmar said. Solar panels are
perfectly all right, however.
The airport's 5-acre rental car return lot also will have a set of solar
panels that will do double duty as sun shades for the parking lot, he said.
The airport had planned to build its own cover at the lot, so letting
WorldWater & Power install solar collectors instead will save the airport
about $5.5 million in construction and finance costs, he said.
Quentin Kelly, chief executive of WorldWater & Power, said the project is
garnering some attention from managers of other airports across the country,
though he declined to say which.
"I know of at least seven or eight other major airports that will be coming
out to look at our system," he said.
After all, Fresno's airport isn't the only one looking for ways to make
money from the land left vacant at the ends of runways and other restricted
areas, Kelly said.
"Ultimately, airports all over are going to be taking advantage of this
technology," he said.
