Kearsarge Energy and the Town of Montague, Mass., have tabbed the engineering serviced of GZA to support the brownfield development of a new 3-MW solar energy farm. The project will also involve capping a long-abandoned landfill in the Western Massachusetts community.
The new Montague project will include over 7,000 PV panels across 10.3 acres, coupled with energy storage capacity through a battery storage system. While most of the solar panels will be ballasted on the landfill, 300-kW of the solar capacity will be installed on canopies that will placed over a parking area.
As an integral part of the project, 7.6 acres of landfill will be permanently closed and secured to Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) standards. GZA will provide third-party engineering oversight services including documentation and monthly reporting to MassDEP.
“Solar energy, landfill closings, and construction-site engineering support are three core capabilities of GZA, and it’s an exciting opportunity and honor for us to deploy all three to support Kearsarge Energy and the Town of Montague in this ‘brownfield to brightfield’ project,’’ said GZA CEO Patrick Sheehan.
GZA supports solar energy development through a broad range of consulting services including environmental siting and permitting, geotechnical and civil engineering, landfill engineering, brownfield development, and regulatory/compliance support. The company is currently working on more than 25 solar energy projects in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York for multiple clients on sites including landfills, rooftops, parking garages, greenfield developments, and multi-use properties.
“The uncapped landfill has been a liability to the Town for more than two decades and presented a major capital expenditure to implement the Corrective Action Design,” said Montague Town Planner and Conservation Agent Walter Ramsey. “This project will improve water quality and generate renewable energy, all while offsetting a major capital expense outlay by the municipality. This is a model for how public-private partnerships should be done in the solar industry.”
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