Under the Seminole Rural Reservation Resiliency Initiative, approximately 445 kilowatts (kW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) and about 1,510 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of battery storage, along with transfer switches and control systems, will be installed on the rural Reservation of Big Cypress to service four essential community facilities, including the Frank Billie Field Office, Health Clinic Building, Public Safety Complex, and Senior Center. The integrated system is intended to provide reliable energy during repeated grid outages and other failures caused by major storms or other events, and to lower energy costs in this high-energy-cost rural area. Specifically, the project is expected to save approximately $3 million in local utility energy and demand charges over the project life.

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 adhere to its strong environmental ethic while taking steps to lower energy costs and enhance reliability on its Big Cypress Reservation.

The project goals and objectives are to: (a) provide reliable electrical energy to the Tribe's essential loads on the Big Cypress Reservation, even during repeated grid outages that impact the Big Cypress Reservation; (b) effectively address the reliability issues and failures of its diesel-powered backup generation; and (c) provide the Big Cypress 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's expected outcomes for this project include: (1) obtaining reliable electrical energy that serves the essential tribal loads on the Big Cypress Reservation; (2) effectively addressing the reliability issues and failures of the Tribe's diesel-powered backup generation by replacing it for substantial portions of the essential tribal loads with reliable, integrated solar PV, battery storage, transfer switches and control systems; (3) minimizing the risk of localized and other emissions from the Tribe's present diesel-powered backup generation through the use of nonemitting solar PV generation technology at the identified essential loads; (4) for the essential loads, significantly reducing operational costs, including fuel costs, staffing costs, and maintenance costs, by avoiding or limiting use of the Tribe's unreliable diesel backup generators, which use expensive fuel and require significant staffing to attempt to maintain reliable operation; (5) providing substantial economic benefits to the Tribe by saving it approximately $3 million in local utility energy and demand charges over the project life, training six to eight tribal members and/or tribal staff regarding the installation and at least four members and/or staff on operation and maintenance of the solar PV and battery storage systems, and educating tribal youth regarding solar PV, battery storage, and controls; and (6) providing a replicable model for tribal and other communities to address reliability problems affecting essential loads while minimizing local and other emission concerns and using technologies well suited to the area's energy resources.

The overall scope of the project includes installing approximately 445 kW of solar PV with about 1,510 kWh of battery storage, and necessary transfer switches and control systems at four essential loads on the Big Cypress Reservation.

The four buildings to receive systems along with their approximate system size (for the PV and battery storage systems) and estimated annual energy production are as follows: (1) Big Cypress Frank Billie Field Office (100 kW PV; 320 kWh battery; 159,600 kWh/year); (2) Big Cypress Health Clinic (170 kW PV; 640 kWh battery; 271,320 kWh/year); (3) Big Cypress Public Safety Complex (135 kW PV; 400 kWh battery; 215,460 kWh/year); and (4) Big Cypress Senior Center (40 kW PV; 150 kWh battery; 63,840 kWh/year).

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has approximately 4,160 members. There are about 700 residents living in the Big Cypress Reservation area, which has been particularly impacted by grid resiliency issues. This project will serve four facilities located on the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Big Cypress Reservation (Frank Billie Field Office, Health Clinic Building, Public Safety Complex, Senior Center).

The project was competitively selected under the Office of Indian Energy’s Fiscal Year 2018 funding opportunity announcement “Energy Infrastructure Deployment on Tribal Lands - 2018” (DE-FOA-0001847) and started in December 2018.

The project status reports provide more information.