Log In


Reset Password
  • MENU
    Local News
    Sunday, May 12, 2024

    Norwich considers leasing former landfill for solar project

    Norwich — The Rogers Road landfill has long been a drain on city finances and the environment, but on Monday the City Council will consider leasing a portion of the landfill and nearby property to a commercial solar garden that also would double Norwich’s “green power” production.

    After nearly a year of planning, an agreement between the city, the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, Norwich Public Utilities and Solar City Corp. of San Mateo, Calif., appears ready to be signed.

    The City Council will hold a public hearing near the start of its 6:30 p.m. meeting Monday on a resolution to approve two license agreements with Solar City for a 20-year lease of 5.35 acres of the Rogers Road Landfill at 82 Rogers Road and a 1.98-acre non-landfill parcel to build solar voltaic arrays that would produce 1.6 and 1.4 megawatts of electricity, respectively.

    The council is expected to vote on the resolution following the hearing.

    Solar City would lease the properties for a combined total of approximately $45,000 per year, with the final price to be set based on the exact size of the installed solar systems. Massachusetts-based Brightfields Development LLC, which specializes in remediation of contaminated brownfields properties, would construct the solar project.

    The project would need approval from the Connecticut Siting Council once the city lease is signed, Norwich Public Utilities General Manager John Bilda said.

    The 20-year lease, with provisions for two five-year extensions, would coincide with the purchase agreement between Solar City and CMEEC.

    The proposal calls for Solar City to sell the power — estimated to be enough to power 370 households, according to Norwich Public Utilities — to CMEEC, and CMEEC would in turn sell it back to NPU as part of its power supply.

    NPU customers would pay no more for the solar power than they already pay in current electric rates, and would not have to pay for installation of wires and infrastructure to receive the solar generated electricity, Bilda said. NPU officials are designing the interconnection system now, and it would be paid for by Solar City as part of the project.

    NPU spokesman Chris Riley said the solar project would double the amount of so-called green energy consumed by NPU customers to 12 percent from the current 6 percent from the utility’s three hydropower generators on the Shetucket River.

    Bilda said the project not only turns the liability of the landfill into a money-generating property, it also allows Norwich electric customers to take advantage of solar power without installing solar panels on their homes.

    A spokesman for Solar City said the company cannot comment on proposed projects prior to having signed contracts in place. Solar City has a Connecticut office in Rocky Hill.

    c.bessette@theday.com

    Twitter: @Bessettetheday

    Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.