Agenda Item Name:
Title
Approve Budget Amendment and amend the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for Health Department Roof Deck Project to Include Solar PV
End
Presenter:
Sean McLendon, 352 548 3765
Description:
Requesting approval of a budget amendment and amendment to CIP for the Health Department Roof Deck project to include $692,000 for a 345kW solar PV system.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approve the budget amendment and amendment to CIP for the Health Department Roof Project to include $692,000 for a solar photovoltaic system.
End
Prior Board Motions:
At the Board’s September 22, 2020 Regular Meeting Commissioner Cornell moved to adopt the FY21-25 CIP Ordinance. The motion carried 4-0 with Commissioner Byerly out of the room.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
The Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP) is the majority funding source for this project. There are sufficient funds allocated to the project in accounts 312 and 300 to cover this budget amendment. $21,880 for 300.19.1921.519.63.98 and $670,120 for (ECIP fund) 312.17.1760.519.63.98. Both are being added to project 8201904.
The CIP change is on page 2 in the Utility Conservation section and has red font with yellow highlighting. The changes remove funding from projects no longer feasible and adds budget into the Health Building project. It is truly a net zero and all funding is available; unspent budget from prior years (not shown in the table) will also be used.
End
Background:
The Board has adopted a conceptual, large-scale solar PV project for the Health Department as part of its FY2021 CIP and ECIP page 432 of 465 of the adopted budget book. The Health Department re-roof project will soon go out to bid. Staff are requesting that the scope and budget of this project be increased to include solar photovoltaic (PV). Solar PV projects are targeted for large rooftop areas that are either in construction or in undergoing a renovation. Aligning a solar installation with large-sized roof deck work reduces mobilization costs and makes sure that the roof membrane warranty is not jeopardized by the installation of the solar equipment. The majority of funding for this project comes from the County’s Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP). The ECIP is part of the Board’s Comprehensive Plan Energy Element Policy 5.1.3. It is a revolving fund that returns avoided utility cost on an annual basis to a fund allocated for additional capital investments dedicated to utility cost avoidance.
This action will maximize the rooftop solar to an estimated size of 345kW and will be the largest PV system in the County. Once installed the project is estimated to avoid $52,630 in utility cost per year and 465,750 kWh per year.
Total budgeted cost of the system is $692,000. The project has break even ROI in 13 years. Over 25-year life of the system, it will offset 11.5 million kWh and over $1.8 million in utility cost.
Alachua County currently has 240 kW of solar PV installed across a variety of sites. The majority are within the GRU service area, net metered, and rooftop system.
The Health Department (345kW) and Civil Court House (97kW) starting in FY212 will increase Board’s solar PV system size 184% to 682 kW.