Maine town uses ice for air conditioning | Alternative Energy | Forums

Will be interesting to see the results this summer

BOOTHBAY (NEWS CENTER) -- The towns and businesses in the Boothbay area are finishing work on an alternative power system to avoid the need for new electric lines.

Central Maine Power had proposed to build a new, higher capacity transmission line to the peninsula, which needs extra electricity to meet peak demand on hot summer days. Instead, the Maine Public Utilities Commission contracted with a Portland company called Grid Solar to use alternatives to meet the added need for power.

The system uses a variety of technologies to accomplish that goal. According to company co-founder Richard Silkman, Grid Solar has arranged for some businesses, and at least one town office, to buy devices called "Ice Bears", which use cheaper, off-peak electricity at night to freeze giant ice blocks. Fans then blow air over the ice during the day to reduce the need for power-hungry air conditioners. Solar panels have been installed on the YMCA and the Boothbay town garage. Silkman said Efficiency Maine provided LED light bulbs to a number of businesses that use daytime lighting, to reduce their overall demand for power. The biggest pieces of the project are a 500 KW generator and a special, 500 KW storage battery system, which are both designed to provide peak power at key times.

Silkman of Grid Solar, which is managing the whole project, said that need exists on relatively few days during the year, and only for a part of any one day. But he says that using the mix of alternatives, which amounts to roughly 2 megawatts of total capacity, avoids the need for the new transmission line.

Silkman said the whole Boothbay pilot project has cost about $6 million to build. That cost is paid by CMP customers, but he said the new power line would have cost $18 million, so he says the Grid Solar project is actually saving ratepayers money. Silkman also says the Boothbay region was chosen for the pilot project because it is isolated in terms of electricity – meaning there is a single transmission line that feeds the peninsula towns.

The company is talking with CMP and the Maine Public Utilities Commission about possibly doing a similar project in the Camden-Rockland area. An MPUC spokesman says there is no timetable for a decision on that proposal.

http://www.wcsh6.com...../70345412/