Mar 21 2014
American Capital Energy, Inc. (ACE) has begun construction on nine solar projects totaling 22MW on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. Clean Focus Corporation (Clean Focus) financed and will own and operate the portfolio, which includes 19.5MW located on capped landfills, the largest group of landfill solar projects ever built and financed in the United States.
The projects will sell net-metering credits to several towns in the Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC) and to the Town of Dennis under nine different 20 year agreements. The solar systems will generate 28,578 megawatt-hours of electricity in the first year of operation, the average amount of power used by 3,797 homes in Massachusetts.
CVEC and Dennis selected ACE as the project developer and builder through a competitive bidding process. Construction will take place through May 2013. ACE will use local labor for construction. “American Capital Energy is pleased to develop and construct solar projects on landfills. Solar deployed on landfills is the perfect application,” said Thomas Hunton, President & CEO of ACE. “Covering all of the capped landfills and brownfields in the United States with solar could make enough electricity to power our nation on sunlight alone,” Hunton went on to say.
CVEC is an electric cooperative comprised of 17 member towns on the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard plus Barnstable County, Dukes County, and the Cape Light Compact. The CVEC PV Initiatives were designed to leverage its members’ aggregate size to procure solar power at favorable rates. Eight member towns have agreements with CVEC to purchase net-metering credits produced from the solar power systems and to lease their landfill property to the solar power facilities. The Town of Dennis contracted directly with Clean Focus for its solar power.
“These projects highlight the ability of solar power not only to generate clean renewable energy but also to repurpose unproductive land to a positive use,” offered Stanley Chin, President & CEO of Clean Focus Corporation. Matt Coleman, Clean Focus EVP Project Finance, added, “We are grateful for ACE, CVEC and each of the Towns for their hard work in solving the complex and challenging conditions for the financing of these nine landfill solar projects. ACE has been a tremendous partner through the development and financing process.”
When completed, the Dennis installation will become one of the largest landfill project in the United States; Clean Focus will become the largest owner of solar power on landfills in the United States; and ACE will have installed the most solar power on landfills in the United States.