Solential Energy has activated its Fort Wayne, Ind., microgrid, which was designed, built and installed by the company and enables the city to self-generate power for its water and sewer utilities.
Last September, Solential installed a floating solar panel array comprising 12,000 solar panels atop the municipality’s water pollution control storage ponds. It supplies 40% of the energy necessary to power the Three Rivers Filtration Plant, the Water Pollution Control Plant and the Wet-Weather Pump Station.
The microgrid design integrates solar power with biogas generated from food waste and natural gas engines.
With the operational costs for these facilities totaling about $2.8 million in 2023, the company says, city officials project that the microgrid will generate $8 million in savings over the project’s lifetime.
