Some of the renewable energy that gave Climate Pledge Arena its name will come from on-site solar panels.
Oak View Group, which is leading the redevelopment and operations of the arena in Seattle Center, and the Seattle Kraken hockey team that will play there announced on Wednesday a partnership with Excelsior Energy Capital and Unico Solar Investors to build two solar arrays at the arena.
The arrays will be on top of the new Alaska Airlines atrium and on the First Avenue North parking garage. They will produce an estimated 574.5 megawatt hours per year of electricity, which is enough to power about 54 average U.S. homes in a year, according to an average provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“The installation of solar arrays at Climate Pledge Arena is a step toward achieving our goal to be the first net-zero carbon certified arena in the world,” Rob Johnson, vice president of sustainability and transportation for the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, said in a news release. “They will also be a visual reminder of our commitment, as well as an education piece, for every visitor that comes to the arena.”
Social media and web postings will play a role in the education piece, a spokesperson for the arena said, in addition to an on-site education center that will provide information about the arena's renewable energy sources.
The arena spokesperson did not share what percentage of the arena's energy will come from the on-site solar arrays, but that electricity is expected to combine with outside renewable sources to power the 18,100-seat multi-purpose arena with 100% renewable energy.
Climate Pledge Arena will be home to the Seattle Kraken NHL team, the Seattle Storm WNBA team and is expected to eventually host live concerts and entertainment events.
In addition to the arrays at Seattle Center, a third array of solar panels is planned for the Kraken's training facility in Northgate. That array will generate an estimated 738.8 megawatt hours per year of electricity, which would power about 69 average U.S. houses in a year.
Unlike the arena, the training center does not have a 100% renewable energy commitment, but the team is "committed to making progress on sustainability at both the arena and the training center," a spokesperson said in an email.
