From staff reports
Two area state fish hatcheries, one in Wexford County and another in Benzie County, are among five to benefit this year from the installation of new solar arrays, according to Dan Sampson, regional hatchery manager of Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Fisheries Division.
Other state fish hatcheries receiving solar arrays are located in Emmet, Schoolcraft and Van Buren counties.
Fish hatcheries are facilities where “fish eggs are hatched and fry (baby fish) are raised,” according to information found on the hatcheries’ page of MDNR’s website. (The Little Manistee River Weir in Manistee County, which blocks the passage of fish in order to harvest their eggs but does not raise the fry, is not a fish hatchery.)
Writing in “Today’s MI Environment”, a publication of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, Sampson stated that a sixth state fish hatchery in Marquette is shaded by hills and trees and will not receive one of the six solar arrays slated for installation this year.
Here comes the sun
Sampson explained that advancements in solar technology coincided with bipartisan support from the State of Michigan’s executive and legislative branches. This made the acquisition of solar arrays a timely solution to energy costs at the hatcheries.
“The investment is substantial,” Sampson wrote. “It is expected to produce 652,000 kilowatt hours per year, offsetting 16% of the overall hatchery electrical needs, saving the DNR almost $2.5 million over the next 25 years.”
State hatcheries with solar arrays will remain on their existing electrical grids but rely less on them.
Area state hatcheries receiving solar arrays
Harrietta State Fish Hatchery, located on 30 Road in Wexford County, will receive one of three larger solar arrays. After its installation toward the end of April, the array is expected to produce 189.24 kilowatts and offset 18% of the main hatchery’s electrical power needs for an annual cost savings of $19,700.
The Harrietta hatchery began operating in 1901 and is the state’s oldest operational facility, according to a statement on the state’s tourism (“Pure Michigan”) website. The hatchery rears mainly inland rainbow trout and inland and Lake Michigan brown trout.
Platte River State Fish Hatchery, located at U.S. Highway 31 near County Road 669 in Benzie County, will be given one of the smaller arrays, to be installed by the end of May. The ground-based array is expected to produce 125.5 kilowatts for the main hatchery and offset 12% of its electrical power needs for an approximate savings of $13,000 per year.
According to statements found on the state’s tourism website, the Platte River hatchery was founded in 1928 and since 1972 has been the state’s main rearing facility for chinook, coho and Atlantic salmon.
Other state hatcheries ‘going solar’
Two more arrays (one large, one small) will be installed at Oden State Fish Hatchery, in addition to its existing 6-kilowatt array. The hatchery is located near Alanson in Emmet County. Sampson wrote that “…significant funding for this (existing) array was provided by the Frey Family Fund via the Charlevoix County Community Foundation and Friends of Oden Hatchery.”
Another (a large array) will go to Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan in Van Buren County. The final installation will take place at the Thompson State Fish Hatchery in Manistique in the Upper Peninsula.
Harvest Solar will install the solar arrays.
More information on the DNR’s fish hatcheries and weirs is found at: Michigan.gov/Hatcheries. Read the full story by Dan Sampson: “Sunny days ahead: solar power coming to DNR state fish hatcheries”
RELATED STORY:
Falling water, shining sun
