EDF Renewables, Goldman Sachs debut New Jersey’s largest solar project
EDF Renewables North America and the Renewable Power business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management have announced the commercial operation of the 28.9 MW Toms River Solar Project. The project, built on BASF Corporation’s property by EDFR in coordination with PVOne and Goldman Sachs, is New Jersey’s largest solar project and the largest solar project built on a Superfund site in the U.S.
Details: The solar array uses a pre-cast ballasted system on approximately 120 acres of the BASF site located on Oak Ridge Parkway in Toms River, NJ, and includes a 27.4 MW grid-connected system and an adjacent 1.5 MW net-metered solar system. The overall project will generate enough clean energy to meet the needs of 5,250 New Jersey homes. This is equivalent to avoiding more than 30,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, which equates to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with driving 6,400 cars for one year.
“We are very excited about the Toms River Solar Project, which successfully reuses brownfield land to develop clean, renewable energy,” said Mark Patterson, Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety at BASF. “This sustainable project highlights BASF’s connections to our communities and the environment by supporting an overall reduction of CO2 emissions while also expanding the site’s native grassland habitat for pollinators and migratory birds.”
Sustainability: Specific considerations were made to improve the threatened Grasshopper Sparrow habitat and protect the Northern Pine Snake. Existing paved areas in the footprint of the project were removed and will be replaced with native meadow mix grasses and wildflowers. Additionally, Rutgers University will conduct a 5-year monitoring program to study the ecological uplift of the project.
Nearly one hundred union workers from Laborers Union Local 172, Iron Workers Local 399, Operators Local 825, and Electrical Local 400 participated in the project’s construction.
“This project is a great example of collaboration between private and public sectors, including the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with BASF, Goldman Sachs, and EDFR,” said Elliott Shanley, Senior Vice President of PVOne.
Comments are closed here.