![]() Founded in 1873, the company’s patented flow turbine was developed to work with small water power resources. Park’s quest led him to the Ossberger manufacturing company in Germany, where micro hydropower projects are relatively prevalent. ![]() Jim Park (right) and Tony Francone from PVREA check the meter connected to the hydro power project. “Many times I’ve watched that thing and thought that would be interesting to put a generator on it,” Park said. Placing the turbine at the bottom of a 25-foot slope in his irrigation diversion off the Lower Latham ditch made sense in terms of water efficiency improvements. Park had his eye on his farm’s hydropower site for years. “It only works well with gravitational energy, but there is a surprising amount of opportunities in Weld County and the Front Range,” he said. He noted that, while most of the state’s agricultural hydroelectric projects are on the Western Slope, there are plenty of potential generation sites east of the Continental Divide. “Jim was one of the first to take advantage of the program,” Anderson said. All three were coordinated under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which provides a means to stack the three sources of funding as part of its mission to promote conservation activities led by local grassroots initiatives and supported by the USDA. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Through his own research and assistance from Fort Collins-based Community Hydropower Consulting, Park took advantage of grant programs through the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the U.S. It was his own lifelong agricultural background and experience as a PVREA board member for more than two decades that helped foster Park’s interest and knowledge in ag-related hydroelectric generation. “It has been widely supported by our agricultural community and our membership as a whole.” “The collaborative nature of the Miller Creek Ditch Hydro Project met all of WREA’s goals,” said Trina Zagar-Brown, WREA general counsel and member services manager. Like Park’s unit, the WREA Miller Creek Ditch Hydro Project utilizes irrigation ditch water to generate power. “Since we started this program, Wyoming and Oregon have been working on developing similar programs, so it’s making an impact,” Anderson said.Įarlier this fall, Meeker-based White River Electric Association began operating its co-op’s first micro hydroelectric project. Growing federal and state support for renewable energy production, particularly through the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s ACRE3 (or Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency) grant program, is a big driver for increasing interest in agriculture hydropower across Colorado, which has some of the best incentives in the nation. “We were excited to be able to help Jim and provide the interconnection for it to come back to his metering.”Īs the name implies, micro hydroelectric projects are small installations, generally up to 100 kilowatts in size, according to Sam Anderson, energy specialist and program administrator with the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “We thought it was a really interesting project to partner with,” said Tony Francone, PVREA member relations representative and energy use advisor. In a state renowned for pioneering hydroelectric projects of all shapes and sizes in mountainous areas, Park’s micro hydroelectric project is unique to say the least, and the only such project in the Fort Collins-based electric cooperative’s service area. The 25-kilowatt generator turns out enough power to run the center pivot on his farm’s sprinkler, which waters 100 acres of corn and alfalfa throughout the growing season. Photo by Amy BlunckĬolorado’s eastern plains are probably the last place a person would expect to find a hydroelectric project installation, but that’s exactly where Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association member Jim Park’s micro hydro generator is planted - along an irrigation ditch on his farm 8 miles east of Kersey, to be precise. Jim Park stands by the hydraulic equipment in his micro hydro pumphouse.
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