Department: County Administration
Department Head/Elected Official: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Interlocal Agreement
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Geotechnology Research Institute of the Houston Advanced Research Center
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request for approval to execute an interlocal agreement with the Geotechnology Research Institute of the Houston Advanced Research Center, to examine the technical, environmental, social, and economic challenges of integrating PV solar and flood control infrastructure.
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Background and Discussion:
In February, 2022, the Office of County Administration transmitted a Clean Energy Strategy to Commissioners Court addressing how to make the County more sustainable and resilient with the use of clean energy technologies. One potential avenue involved use of public land to host energy infrastructure. Of the more than 86 square miles of property controlled by the County, 44% (37.8 square miles) is managed by the Harris County Flood Control (FCD) district.
As the demand for sustainable energy continues to grow, OCA and FCD seek to explore if there exists a unique opportunity to co-locate energy infrastructure with flood control assets. If successful, this approach could increase energy resilience in the County and open the door to generate additional revenue for flood control activities.
OCA and FCD, working in close collaboration with researchers from the Houston Advanced Research Center, have designed an approach to investigate the technical, hydrological, regulatory, and economic issues of locating energy assets on some FCD property. This multi-phased study will be funded with Federal funds from the Energy Efficienc...
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