Two more landfills in the Cleveland, Ohio, area are going solar, as recently announced by the City of Cleveland Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, Department of Public Utilities and Department of Port Control. A 7-MW project is being designed for a city-owned landfill off Kolthoff Drive, and a 2-MW array will be on a landfill off West 11th Street.
Solar installation at the Brooklyn landfill. Credit: SPW archives
The Kolthoff project will help power operations at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), while the West 11th project will send power to Cleveland Public Power (CPP) customers. Both projects are being developed by Enerlogics Networks, Energy Independent Solutions and Prairie Wind Group.
“Keeping costs affordable for Cleveland residents is a priority,” said Mayor Justin M. Bibb. “This project allows us to put underused land back to work by generating energy locally, lowering energy costs, and ensuring our clean energy investments deliver real value to the people who live here.”
CPP also hosts a 4-MW project on the capped landfill in Brooklyn, Ohio, just outside Cleveland limits.
The two new landfill solar projects are being developed through a broader regional clean energy initiative funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program.
In 2024, a coalition of Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland and the City of Painesville received a $129 million grant from the EPA to expand renewable energy throughout Northeast Ohio. The funding will support solar and battery storage projects, restoration of approximately 400 acres of polluted land, and workforce development in clean energy career pathways.
The broader initiative is expected to support the development of approximately 53 MW of solar power, natural restoration projects and a 20 MW battery installation associated with the permanent closure of a coal-powered facility in Painesville. The work is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and other pollution, expand locally generated renewable energy and put previously blighted or otherwise difficult-to-develop properties back into productive use.
Cleveland committed in 2018 to reaching 100% of its electricity demand from clean, renewable energy by 2050.
“These projects bring tangible financial cost savings in a volatile energy market while reducing climate emissions in the longer term,” said Sarah O’Keeffe, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “Expanding locally generated clean energy is both a climate action and a step to future proof our community.”
In addition to generating renewable electricity, both projects will demonstrate how clean energy development can support natural restoration. Pollinator-friendly plants will be seeded beneath and around the ground-mounted solar panels, creating habitat and food sources for beneficial insects and wildlife, including bees, butterflies and birds.
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