Fort Benning receives solar panel project

FORT BENNING, Ga., (April 22, 2015) -- A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Renewable Energy Solar Power Project at Uchee Creek's activity center April 17.

Through the efforts of Fort Benning, the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives, Georgia Power and the General Services Administration, the project will provide the installation a 30-megawatt, alternating current, solar photovoltaic array.

"It takes a team - there is no one individual to credit a project like this coming out of the ground, " said the Honorable Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. " ... This is a success story, not only for the Army, but also for the Secretary of Defense."

This the largest solar energy project to be produced on any military installation to date, Hammack said. The project is the first of eight created by the Department of the Army and supported by GSA, including the same-scale solar energy projects to be built in Georgia at forts Gordon and Stewart.

"Thanks to these solar arrays, these bases will be more sustainable, equally and perhaps more important, by giving them greater access to the power they are producing; these arrays will make these bases more secure and self-reliant, as well," said Kevin Kampschroer, acting senior sustainability official, U.S. General Services Administration.

These projects will supply on average, about 20 percent of the Army's total electrical demand in the state of Georgia, said Amanda Simpson, executive director, Army Office of Energy Initiatives.

"We're going to have three 30-megawatt power systems on our bases contributing to the resiliency of our installations," Hammack said. "But ... it also contributes to the resiliency of the communities around us."

Hammack said military installations within a community are often the biggest power users due to the missions on the installation. She also said installations are often at the end of the power line.

"When some of that power is generated at the point of use, there is more power available to the community," Hammack said.

During the last 10 years, energy consumption has been reduced across the Army by 17 percent, Hammack said, but over that same 10-year period, costs have gone up 45 percent.

"Using renewable energy and being able to procure renewable energy at or lower than grid power ... it's good for our budget - it's good for our pocketbook and it's good for the taxpayer," Hammack said.

The solar project will be financed, designed, installed, owned and operated by Georgia Power and will provide about 40 percent of peak electrical demand for the installation.

"Georgia Power really stepped up ... when the Army said 'we need to increase the resiliency of our installations,'" Hammack said.

The project is scheduled to begin operation in 2016, covering approximately 200 acres and featuring 136,900 4-foot by 6-foot panels.

Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, Maneuver Center of Excellence commanding general, said Fort Benning must operate in three time zones - the here and now, the future and always.

"The here and now is very much focused on making sure that we've got our Soldiers, our leaders prepared to win in a complex world as we go forward, ... when we think about the future from an Army standpoint or Maneuver Center standpoint, we talk about 'how are we going to fight in the future, what do (our) adversaries look like, what does the operating environment look like as we move forward?' Always, that's another time zone, we talk about care of our Soldiers, care of our Families, but as importantly, we talk about outreach to the community, our partnership with the community, because that is absolutely critical," Miller said.

"When I look at the future and I look at the always, I just see what we're doing today as very much interconnected," Miller said. "We're now looking to the future, we are doing something new and innovative here at Fort Benning, Georgia, that ... builds a level of resiliency across Fort Benning."