Consultant outlines hydrogen-plus-solar plan for Depoe Bay emergency power; state official warns grant competition

A consultant advising Depoe Bay on an Oregon Department of Energy planning grant told the City Council that a renewable system using solar panels (and possibly a small wind turbine) with on‑site hydrogen production and fuel-cell generation could provide scalable, low‑emission emergency power for City Hall and other critical facilities.

The consultant described the planning grant’s intent as identifying renewable, reliable emergency power that is self‑contained inside the city. "One of the unique solutions we looked at that seems to fit really well is the use of hydrogen for that storage of that energy," the consultant said, explaining that renewables can produce hydrogen via electrolysis, which is stored and later converted back to electricity with fuel cells.

He explained the advantages — zero direct carbon emissions (water vapor and heat are the primary byproducts), modular fuel‑cell generators that can be scaled, and long‑term storage life compared with batteries. He also noted tradeoffs: the current cost of hydrogen technology and the need for “green hydrogen” (hydrogen produced using renewables) if the city wants a fully carbon‑free system.

City staff and the consultant reviewed building loads for City Hall, the community center and water/wastewater facilities to size equipment and identify potential solar locations. The consultant said the planning grant phase includes preliminary engineering drawings to make the project competitive for construction funding.

Sarah Mortier of the Oregon Department of Energy told the council the construction grant opportunity will be competitive and that the state expects many planning‑grant recipients to apply. She advised the city to present a concise, implementation‑focused application showing outreach and a path to construction. "We are looking at more money from the legislature," Mortier said, but she warned that if that budget request fails, a future round could be the last for now.

The consultant said the state’s construction grant could provide up to $1 million on a competitive basis and that an anticipated release window for the grant was late Q2 to early Q3 (estimates ranged from June to September). He urged the city to use the planning grant deliverables to be effectively “quasi shovel‑ready” for the construction application.

Councilors raised technical questions about hydrogen compression and efficiency; the consultant said compression power draw is relatively small (roughly a few percent of generation) and that tanks and equipment are specialized for long‑term storage.

Separately, the council held the first reading of ordinance 357‑25 to establish the People Bay Energy Advisory Committee (reading accepted by title only). The ordinance is intended to formalize an advisory group that would support energy resilience work; council discussion indicated further edits would appear at a later reading (council signaled removal of a requirement for a council member to sit on the committee).