Title
Reclaimed Water for the Gainesville Renewable Energy Center (GREC) (B)
Associated with the Water Consumptive Use Permit for GREC, a four way Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") has been negotiated among GRU, the City of Alachua; GREC, LLC and the Suwannee River Water Management District which will enable reclaimed water from the City of Alachua's wastewater system to be used by the proposed biomass power plant to reduce groundwater use. The Utilities Attorney has approved the MOU for form and legality and the General Manager has executed the agreement subject to the approval of the Gainesville City Commission.
Explanation
The Suwannee River Water Management District has made the use of reclaimed water to minimize the use of potable groundwater for the proposed 100 megawatt biomass power plant (the Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, or "GREC") a condition of the consumptive use permit for the facility. GREC will require roughly 1.4 million gallons per day ("mgd") of water for cooling purposes. A four way Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") has been negotiated which will enable reclaimed water from the City of Alachua's wastewater system to be used by GREC to offset groundwater use by roughly a third. The City of Alachua will initially be able to provide roughly 0.4 mgd of reclaimed water, which is expected to increase through time. The MOU assures that the funding for the pipeline extension will be made available, either through grants, direct funding by GRU, or by an adjustment to the cost of electricity from the facility. The Utilities Attorney has approved the MOU for form and legality and the General Manager has executed the agreement subject to the approval of the Gainesville City Commission. Should GRU eventually make reclaimed water available to GREC, the final water use agreements will be open for renegotiation. Although the City of Alachua does not currently charge for the use of reclaimed water, the MOU provides GREC with favored ...
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