The Maryland Department of the Environment awarded a $188,000 “Fiscal Year 2018 Energy Water Infrastructure Program” grant to Cecil County Government to fund the installation of a solar array at the County’s Northeast River Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant at Seneca Point.
The grant program is intended to fund energy reduction and alternative source of energy projects at Maryland wastewater treatment plants. The grants are intended to cover design and construction costs up to the maximum amount of the grant award. Grants are awarded on the basis of the projected amount of energy to be saved or generated, the estimated payback period, as well as the type of project. MDE is expected to provide a total of up to $8 million in grant funding statewide in Fiscal Year 2018.
Grants are awarded on the basis of the projected amount of energy to be saved or generated, the estimated payback period, as well as the type of project. MDE is expected to provide a total of up to $8 million in grant funding statewide in Fiscal Year 2018.
Cecil County’s grant will fund the design and installation of a solar array on the roof of the Northeast River Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant’s membrane building. When complete, the array is expected to generate an estimated 80,000 kilowatt hours per year, or approximately 5 percent of the facility’s electrical requirements equating to an annual cost savings of approximately $8,000 to the County’s sanitary sewer customers.
Under the terms of the grant, construction must begin no later than June 30, 2018.
The grant application was prepared, and the project will be managed by, the Engineering & Construction Division of the Cecil County Department of Public Works.
