Seminole Tribe of Florida – 2021 Project

Background

The Tribe's long-term energy vision is based on its desire to obtain energy independence, sovereignty, and security by being able to provide reliable energy for its Rural Reservation Areas. These areas are more prone to repeated grid outages due to storms and other events. This project advances the Tribe's agenda to meet its strong environmental ethic while taking steps to lower energy costs and enhance reliability on its Brighton Reservation.

Project Objectives

The project goals and objectives are to: (a) provide reliable electrical energy to the Tribe's essential loads, even during repeated grid outages that impact its rural Brighton Reservation; (b) effectively address the reliability issues and failures of its diesel-powered back-up generation; and (c) provide the Brighton Reservation with energy reliability solutions that minimize the potential for localized and other emissions, and minimize operational costs, including fuel costs, staffing costs, and maintenance costs.
These goals and objectives come from the Tribe's significant work to address resiliency issues, including its formation of an energy resiliency committee, its strategic resiliency training sessions, and its resiliency planning. The Tribe has conducted multiple studies of the electrical loads and infrastructure options for these four crucial community agencies within the rural Reservation of Brighton.

Project Scope

The scope of the project includes installing approximately 475 kW of solar PV capacity with approximately 1,810 kWh of integrated battery storage capacity, transfer switches, and control systems on the Brighton Reservation, which will service the essential loads listed below. All the project buildings are located on the Tribe's trust land on the rural Reservation of Brighton.

The four buildings targeted to receive systems, along with their approximate system size (both battery electric storage system and PV) and estimated annual energy production, are as follows:  (1) Brighton Health Clinic (150 kWh battery; 100 kW PV; 159,600 kWh/yr); (2) Brighton Administration Building (570 kWh battery; 125 kW PV; 199,500 kWh/yr); (3) Brighton Public Safety Building (740 kWh battery; 125 kW PV; 199,500 kWh/yr); and (4) Brighton Veterans Building (350 kWh battery; 125 kW PV; 199,500 kWh/yr).

Project Location

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has approximately 4,160 members. There are about 700 residents living in the Brighton Reservation Area, which has been particularly impacted by grid resiliency issues. This project will serve four facilities located on the Seminole Tribe of Floridas Brighton Reservation (Health Clinic, Administration Building, Public Safety Building, and Veterans Building).