McKinstry, a national construction and energy services firm, continues to expand its municipal government partnerships in western Arkansas with the delivery of four new solar photovoltaic systems. The new solar arrays will generate more than 6 million kilowatt hours of energy each year, saving close to $350,000 in utility costs for Sebastian County, Miller County, and the City of Nashville, Arkansas.
“McKinstry is committed to helping our partners across Arkansas identify opportunities to save taxpayer dollars by cutting utility costs while simultaneously making their facilities more sustainable,” said Skip Woessner, McKinstry’s Business Unit Manager for Arkansas Energy and Technical Services. “Together we are engineering solutions that allow communities and organizations to upgrade critical equipment and improve energy efficiency with zero cost burden for taxpayers.”
Sebastian County and McKinstry are continuing their partnership through the delivery of two solar photovoltaic systems, for a total of 1.18 megawatts of solar capacity, to reduce energy consumption costs and to provide the county with a reliable source of power. The solar photovoltaic arrays will generate 2.7 million kilowatt hours of energy each year, offsetting 77 percent of the county’s electricity consumption and saving more than $134,000 in annual utility costs. These savings will offset the $2.5 million in costs associated with the project.
Miller County is partnering with McKinstry for the delivery of a 600 kW photovoltaic solar array and numerous facility improvement measures to reduce utility and operations and maintenance costs, and to provide a reliable source of power for the county. McKinstry will enhance multiple county facilities through LED lighting retrofits, building management system optimization, HVAC replacements and renovations, building envelope upgrades, and indoor water conservation measures. A combined annual cost savings of more than $213,000 will help to offset the $5 million in costs associated with the project.
In a partnership with the City of Nashville, Arkansas, McKinstry will deliver a 1 MW solar photovoltaic array. When complete, the Nashville solar photovoltaic array will generate 2.1 million kilowatt hours of energy each year, offsetting 54 percent of the city’s electricity consumption and saving more than $138,000 in annual utility costs. These savings will pay the costs associated with the ground-mounted fixed tilt system.
These projects are made possible in part through the Arkansas Energy Office’s Arkansas Energy Performance Contracting (AEPC) program or The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS). Energy performance contracting is a tool for paying for efficiency upgrades such as lighting, chillers, boilers, water systems, and renewable generation over time through annual energy savings. McKinstry is a pre-qualified energy service company under the AEPC program and TIPS, serving multiple Arkansas clients with a focus on energy-efficiency projects, renewable energy development and consulting.
Installation of the solar photovoltaic arrays and facility improvement measures are scheduled to be complete in 2021.
— Solar Builder magazine
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