AC Power, a mission-driven, woman-owned solar development company, was awarded a 2.8-MWDC solar project on the Global Sanitary Landfill site in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) awarded the project for its second year of the Community Solar Pilot Program.
The site is a former municipal and non-hazardous industrial waste site with a USEPA Superfund designation. To leverage the solar redevelopment of the landfill, AC Power has partnered to build out a local workforce development program and land revitalization plan for the site, ensuring positive, long-term impacts on the surrounding community.
The NJBPU received 412 applications representing 804 MW; it selected 105 projects, which together will generate 165 MW of clean, solar energy. The Old Bridge site was one of just nine landfill projects awarded. New Jersey’s community solar allocation marked the path forward for this ‘trash to treasure” project, which will offer subscriptions to approximately 400 homes.
“We are thrilled to have been awarded this project in Old Bridge Township, and to be building upon our work in the New Jersey Community Solar Pilot Program from year one, bringing the state one step closer to meeting its clean energy goals,” said Annika Colston, president and founder of AC Power.
The project will offer at least 51% of its output to low- and moderate-income residents; provide funding to sponsor North American Board of Certified Energy practitioners solar installation certification courses, covering exam fees for local students; rehabilitate and restore the landfill site to support declining pollinator populations, improve landscape connectivity and increase biodiversity; and it will provide subscribers an opportunity to reduce their electricity costs with renewable energy.
The landfill array is expected to be operational by Spring 2023.
