New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin and New Jersey State Senator Donald Norcross helped Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) mark the start of construction on its largest solar project to date, an 11.18-MWdc solar farm atop the closed Kinsley Landfill. The Kinsley Solar Farm is the utility’s third project to transform New Jersey’s landfill space into clean, energy-producing solar farms, through its Solar 4 All program.
“Two clear goals of New Jersey’s energy policy are to support solar development in the state and maintain our scarce open space,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G president and chief operating officer. “Projects like this one at the Kinsley Landfill allow PSE&G to help New Jersey realize both goals. We are building enough grid-connected solar generation to power thousands of homes while reclaiming landfill space that has limited development opportunities.”
The solar farm will convert 35 acres of the 140-acre landfill site into a solar generation powerhouse. Through the installation of 36,841 solar panels, Kinsley will provide enough grid-connected electricity to power about 2,000 average-size homes annually. Kinsley’s Landfill Inc. owns the Kinsley Landfill, which closed in 1987.
“Building solar farms on New Jersey landfills is a great way to invest in our state,” said Senate President Sweeney. “It’s good for the environment, for public health and the economy. These projects will create jobs in clean energy, which is a growing sector, and reduce carbon emissions, which protects the environment and the public’s health. Solar farms are part of our future.”
“The Christie Administration is committed to promoting and expanding the state’s solar industry, which is a critical element of our long-term energy strategy,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin. “New Jersey already is a national leader in solar energy, ranking near the top in residential and commercial solar projects, and this latest effort by PSE&G is the latest example of New Jersey’s leadership as one of the largest and fastest growing solar energy markets in the United States.”
“I’m happy to see projects like the Kinsley Solar Farm taking place in Gloucester County,” said Senator Norcross. “This project will provide renewable energy to thousands of homes and businesses while also generating economic development and creating jobs in the area that I serve. Projects like this are important for Camden and Gloucester Counties because they provide a benefit right now and continue to pay dividends well into the future.”
In the spring of 2015, when the Kinsley Solar Farm is in service, PSE&G will have returned more than 110 acres of landfill and brownfield space across the state to good use by installing more than 106,000 solar panels, capable of generating more than 31 MWdc of solar power, which is enough to power about 5,000 homes annually.
Since 2009, PSE&G has invested more than $480 million in its Solar 4 All program, creating more than 1,600 jobs. PSE&G estimates that there will be approximately 100 people working on the Kinsley project, including electricians, engineers, heavy equipment operators, ironworkers, laborers and truck drivers.
Conti Enterprises Inc. of Edison, NJ, one of the state’s largest solar developers, was selected as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the Kinsley Landfill Solar Farm project.
Solar 4 All is a 125-MWdc program that utilizes rooftops, parking lots, solar farms, utility poles and landfills/brownfields for large-scale, grid-connected solar projects. There are currently 80 MWdc in service all of which was developed during the program’s first phase. In addition to the Kinsley project, the Parklands Solar Farm is also under construction as part of the Solar 4 All program’s second phase, which the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved in May 2013. It focuses on developing 42 MW-dc of grid-connected solar capacity on landfills and brownfields during the next several years.
— Solar Builder magazine
[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/construction-begins-11-18-mw-pseg-solar-project-nj-landfill/]
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