Main Street Power, Gehrlicher Solar Partner on Capped Landfill Solar Project
Main Street Power Company Inc., an owner and operator of solar assets, MS Solar Solutions Corp. (MSSS), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, project developers Syncarpha Capital and Brightfields Development LLC and Gehrlicher Solar America Corp., an engineering, procurement and construction firm, are partnering with the Town of Scituate to make one of Massachusetts’s 328 capped landfills a source of renewable energy. In celebration of the construction start, there will be a ceremony on-site on June 18.
Construction on the project began in April of 2013 and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Comprised of 10,560 modules from Canadian Solar, the system also utilizes high efficiency inverters from Advanced Energy, and Schletter PvMax ballasted ground mount racking.
The 3-MW solar array will be the second renewable energy project completed by the Town of Scituate, which also commissioned a 1.5-MW wind turbine in March of 2012. The output from both the wind and solar installations will power 100 percent of the town’s buildings and operations. As part of the project, Brightfields will also be assisting school officials with the development of educational programs related to solar energy. “The Town is very pleased to have this important project underway, and we look forward to the financial, educational and environmental benefits it brings to the residents of Scituate”, said Shawn Harris, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the Town of Scituate.
Syncarpha Capital acquired the project from Brightfields Development LLC in early 2012 and has worked closely with Brightfields to complete the development and financing for this exciting project. “The Scituate project demonstrates our commitment to developing solar projects on landfills throughout the U.S., and we are excited to be apart of the Town of Scituate’s ambitious renewable energy initiative”, said Clifford Chapman, Managing Partner of Syncarpha Capital.
Main Street Power, the Power Purchase Agreement provider, will take ownership and maintain the array for the 20-year life of the agreement. The Scituate solar array will be the 200th system developed by MS Solar Solutions and owned by Main Street Power, and marks the first landfill project completed together. “Installing solar on a capped landfill makes sense. It is truly a triple bottom line project, creating savings for the Town, promoting the advancement the solar industry and repurposing unusable land responsibly”, remarked Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Eric Hinckley of Main Street Power.
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