The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities granted AC Power its fourth conditional approval since December on March 29 to develop a 3-MW solar project on a closed landfill in Egg Harbor Township.
AC Power is currently developing seven solar projects on landfills in New Jersey including Egg Harbor Township, Winslow, Evesham, Hopatcong, Delanco, Edison, and Lafayette with many more in the pipeline.
The NJ Solar Act encourages the development of solar projects on landfills, brownfields and areas of historic fill rather than on open space and farmland. Unfortunately, developing solar on a landfill is much costlier as it requires significantly more permitting and engineering than traditional ground-mounted projects. The construction costs are also higher as the system must be built to ensure the long-term viability of the landfill cap.
These four landfill solar project approvals are unique because they grandfather the solar projects under the existing program for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) that expired in October 2018. These PV systems will generate SRECs for 15 years versus projects approved after October 2018 that will generate SRECs for 10 years. The projects were submitted to the Board of Public Utilities well before the October deadline and deemed complete, however, since the projects are on landfills the review and approvals process is considerably lengthier and the board approval was not able to be granted before the deadline. This determination will generate significant value for all stakeholders and bring another 10 MW of renewable power to the state.
“We agree with the Board of Public Utilities that solar on landfills makes sense and applaud them for recognizing the hard work and considerable time that goes into bringing these projects to construction with their approval for 15-year renewable energy credits,” said Annika Colston, president and founder of AC Power.
AC Power is a woman-owned business that develops renewable energy projects by changing unusable or low-value land into revenue-generating, clean energy sites. The company partners with property owners who are dedicated to the renewable economy, have vacant or unused land that they’d like to make productive use of and want to generate steady, long-term revenues with no upfront or ongoing costs. In 2018, Owens Corning named AC Power its Sustainable Partner of the Year for developing solar on two of its closed landfills in New Jersey.
News item from AC Power
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