Ameresco announced that it has completed a resiliency project at the Town of Wayland Middle School, which also serves as the community’s emergency shelter. This advanced resiliency initiative will ensure that Wayland’s emergency shelter can access solar generated power in the event of emergencies that cause outages.
The resiliency project builds upon several renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives that Ameresco has completed in a public-private partnership with Wayland over the last decade. The project unveiled today integrates an existing 230 kW solar canopy facility at the Middle School – previously installed, financed, and operated by Ameresco – with the shelter’s emergency diesel generator. The resiliency project provides a system where the solar facility and emergency generator can operate together to support the shelter during utility outages.
Ameresco led the installation of the resiliency controls linking Ameresco’s solar facility located at the Middle School, the emergency generator, and the school’s electricity load. These updates, along with additional electrical infrastructure, allow the solar arrays to operate when the utility grid is down by syncing to the generator. With the assistance of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Town of Wayland received a grant from the Commonwealth’s Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative (CCERI). The Town used the grant and Town funds to engage Ameresco to create both an islanding capability and advanced switching onsite at the Middle School, resulting in the ability for solar power to decrease the burden on the diesel generator during the course of extreme weather or other emergencies that disrupt the main grid. The project design also includes provisions for adding battery storage capacity in the future to extend the energy resiliency for Wayland’s emergency shelter.
“We are thrilled with this innovative solution that will help Wayland weather future storms and provide our emergency shelter with power fueled by clean solar energy”, said Louise Miller, Wayland Town Administrator. She adds that “its location at the Middle School also will help students learn about the importance of resiliency as we look to the future.”
Anne Harris, co-chair of Wayland’s Energy & Climate Committee, notes that “this project will help reduce Wayland’s greenhouse gas emissions by reducing use of our diesel-powered generator. Wayland has completed several climate change-related measures, including energy efficiency retrofits at Town buildings and installation of 1.4 MW of solar power with Ameresco, replacement of streetlights with LEDs, and participation in the Commonwealth’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program.”
“MAPC is delighted to have supported this project to enhance energy resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Wayland Middle School, which acts as a local shelter during extreme weather events,” said Cammy Peterson, Director of Clean Energy at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). “This municipal project is one of the first of its kind in Massachusetts, and we hope that it leads the way to many more communities in the region pairing solar with clean resilience technology, such as smart inverters and storage. We are grateful not only to DOER for the Community Clean Energy Resilience Initiative (CCERI) grant awarded to MAPC on behalf of Wayland, but also to the Town of Wayland, the Wayland Energy & Climate Committee, Ameresco, the state, and others for years of successful collaboration to realize this innovative project.”
“In the face of increased extreme weather events, cities and towns are sharpening their focus on resiliency,” said David J. Anderson, Executive Vice President and Director at Ameresco. “Municipalities have the opportunity to take steps to ensure that necessary services can still operate to support their communities, even when the utility grid is down. We commend the Town of Wayland for implementing this important energy security strategy, in a way that also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the previously installed energy efficiency and renewable energy infrastructure improvements, this project serves as another example of the Town’s foresight and commitment to cost-effective environmentally responsible energy management.”