The Oregon Department of Energy recently announced 13 recipients of Renewable Energy Development grant funds totaling more than $2 million. This year’s projects reflect the diversity of Oregon’s renewable energy technologies with selected projects to generate electricity from biogas, solar electric, biomass and hydropower.
Two of the four biogas projects include Deschutes Brewery in Bend and The Dalles Wastewater Treatment Plant. Deschutes Brewery will use an anaerobic digester to convert wastewater into methane gas, used on-site for electricity and thermal energy. The Dalles Wastewater Treatment Plant will add a 65-kilowatt microturbine to its existing anaerobic system.
The Three Sisters Irrigation District hydropower project is part of a larger effort to conserve water and electricity through irrigation modernization. The irrigation district will generate electricity by replacing open canals with pipelines and running pressurized water through a hydropower turbine.
In Eastern Oregon, four solar projects in Baker, Wallowa and Malheur counties will add more than nine megawatts of solar power capacity.
“Oregonians continue to value renewable energy,” Oregon Department of Energy Director Michael Kaplan said. “We’re proud we can support these diverse projects and the communities where they are located.”
Selected projects for Renewable Energy Development grant funds:
Projects 300 kWAC or larger
Kraft-Heinz Company | Biogas | Ontario | $175,000
Deschutes Brewery Inc | Biogas | Bend | $175,000
Obsidian Renewables LLC | Solar Electric| Silver Lake | $175,000
Farm Power Wilson River LLC | Biogas | Tillamook | $38,772
Enerparc Inc | Solar Electric| Unity | $175,000
Enerparc Inc | Solar Electric| Vale | $175,000
Enerparc Inc | Solar Electric| Ontario | $175,000
Willow Renewable Energy LLC | Biomass | Heppner | $175,000
The Klamath Tribes | Solar Electric| Chiloquin | $175,000
Projects Under 300 kWAC
Three Sisters Irrigation District | Hydropower | Sisters | $175,000
The Dalles Wastewater Treatment Plant | Biogas | The Dalles | $175,000
Tri-City Joint Water & Sanitary Authority | Solar Electric| Myrtle Creek | $140,650
Hillock’s Stor-All LLC | Solar Electric| Enterprise | $32,156
For more information about Oregon Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Development grant program, visit http://www.oregon.gov/energy/At-Work/Pages/Renewable-Energy-Grants.aspx.