A grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center could help launch the second phase of the city’s microgrid project.
Last week, the City Council moved the acceptance of the $150,000 grant to its ways and means subcommittee prior to a vote by the whole council.
“This past fall, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center notified the City that it had been awarded a $150,000 grant,” stated City Manager Fidel Maltez in a letter to the council. “This grant will help launch the Chelsea Microgrid Phase II project that will build on the work of Phase I. The Chelsea Microgrid project is an innovative cloud-based microgrid approach, which is a relatively new and unexplored model possessing the potential to significantly benefit environmental justice (EJ) communities and their residents, without the limitations other microgrid models pose.”
Last June, the City Council approved moving forward with the first phase of the city’s microgrid project.
The project seeks to provide emergency power to ensure continuity of public services, while promoting energy resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through new energy (battery) storage facilities at City Hall and the police station, coupled with solar panels on the DPW City Yard, then City Manager Ned Keefe stated at the time.
The council also approved an energy services agreement (ESA) with Ameresco, Inc. in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws and authorized a lease purchase finance agreement for the borrowing of funds in the amount of $3,615,699 for the first phase of the microgrid project.
“The Phase II work will assess the expansion of the Phase I work by developing a list of potential facilities, selection criterion for participation, conducting IGAs, cashflow estimates for building design approaches to be net zero by 2050, and community outreach to incorporate feedback on prioritization,” stated Maltez.