Solar planned for Port of Camas-Washougal HQ, Grove Field

The Port of Camas-Washougal is moving forward with a plan to install solar power at its administrative office and at the Grove Field airport north of Camas.

In April, the Port’s board of commissioners approved two contracts with Portland-based Power Northwest to install solar power and battery back-up systems at the Port’s administrative office for $102,486, and at Grove Field for $219,966.

The Grove Field project is going through “the permitting process with Clark County,” and the administrative building project is “in the final stages of permit review with the city of Washougal,” according to project manager Jennifer Taylor, who added that construction should start in “late summer” and finish by the end of September 2024.

“We’re the only local agency, I believe, that’s getting an implementation grant to actually install the solar-plus-storage in the area. Everybody else is still doing the planning,” Port Commissioner Cassi Marshall said during an April 3 Port Commission meeting. “It’s really great that Camas-Washougal is once again able to lead the way. I’m so excited about this.”

The Port will pay for the projects with a $283,000 Solar Plus Storage for Resilient Communities grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce (DOC), which aims to “to increase the deployment of solar and battery storage systems in community buildings that will enhance grid resilience and provide backup power for critical needs,” according to the Port.

The installation of solar power with battery backup at the administrative building “affirms the Port’s commitment to sustainability while ensuring that critical Port functions remain operable during emergencies and power outages,” the Port stated earlier this year.

“The administrative building (will be outfitted) with one solar array of about 20-kilowatt per hour electricity production with battery backup,” Taylor said in April. “We’ll have an interconnection agreement with Clark Public Utilities, so whatever power we don’t need to store in our battery will be returned to the grid, and then we’ll receive a reduction in our electric bill from the CPU.”

Port Chief Executive Officer David Ripp said the Port has an agreement with the school districts in Camas and Washougal that the districts can use the Port’s administrative office as a drop-off site during emergency situations.

Ripp said students would be bussed to the Port’s administrative office, as well as to the nearby Westlie Ford auto dealership.

“We’re trying to be proactive and not reactive,” Ripp said. “We’re planning ahead by having this as an alternative. In case something does happen, we’re prepared.”

Ripp also pointed out that Grove Field has already been used as a gathering place during emergencies and would benefit from an alternate energy source.

“As we saw last year during the Nakia Creek fire, airports can be used as command centers for emergency purposes,” Ripp said. “We’re the only area where planes can land if there was a major flood because we’re not in the flood zone. Pearson (Field in Vancouver is) in the flood zone, and there would be no other places for planes to come in and out.”

The backup power also would allow the Port to keep the runway and tower lights on during an emergency and to have internet service and power to run computers or other electronic devices.

Taylor said Power Northwest will install solar arrays on the roofs of a hangar and the FlyIt Academy building at Grove Field.

“At Grove Field, we will have two solar arrays because it wasn’t cost effective to do the trenching and boring to connect them together as one system,” Taylor said.

Taylor added that one solar array at Grove Field will run the lights and the beacon, while the other will run the gate and bathroom, and will have the capacity to provide additional power during an emergency.