Submitted by City of Tenino
Impact Bioenergy, on behalf of the City of Tenino, is one of 10 partnerships from across the United States to receive a $50,000.00 Phase 1 “Water Resource Recovery Prize” from the US Department of Energy. The prize seeks to increase resource recovery from municipal wastewater treatment plants across the United States. A two-phase program, Phase 1 challenges teams to submit two high-level facility engineering schematics, a business case demonstrating improvement relative to the existing baseline conditions, and a technical description validating the potential for cost-effectiveness and viability of the resource recovery plan. Phase 1 winners then compete for award of a $250,000.00 Phase 2 prize in order to provide a more detailed plan for financing and construction, supported by quantitative analysis and/or modeling.
Councilmember Dave Watterson first approached the City Council with his grant proposal during their regular meeting on May 26, 2020. After receiving Council approval, he then worked with a team of technical specialists from Impact Bioenergy, MacDonald-Miller, and EEFinance to write a grant proposal, which was submitted on May 28. This proposal was accepted and Impact Bioenergy was selected as one of 10 winners on July 9, 2020!!
“Dave is a producer” says Mayor Wayne Fournier. “He has been successful bringing innovative renewable energy projects to the area like the award-winning micro-grid project currently being implemented jointly between Puget Sound Energy and Tenino High School, as well as being instrumental in the grant that resulted in the installation of solar panels at Tenino High that greatly reduce the need for purchased energy, thereby saving the School District thousands of dollars.”
Watterson explains: “Renewable resources is a passion of mine. The City has been pursuing options for making our wastewater plant more cost effective for the past three years. When I discovered the Water Resource Recovery Prize program, I saw the potential to leverage the ongoing efforts to greatly increase both the effectiveness and efficiency of our operations.”
If Tenino, and Impact Bioenergy, is awarded a Phase 2 prize, the City could expect to implement a program that would both accelerate the recovery of valuable resources and lower the ultimate costs of the operation of the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. Phase 2 winners will be announced in August of 2021.
