The two projects include Steel Sun II, located on the former Bethlehem Steel site on Buffalo’s waterfront and the Homeridae project, one of two solar arrays in Olean sited on a former oil refinery and tank farm.
CleanCapital has acquired an operating solar portfolio made up of two brownfield assets in New York. The projects, Steel Sun II and Homeridae, total 13 MW and supply clean energy to a local university, healthcare provider and a municipality in upstate New York.
The two projects were developed in 2019 by BQ Energy Development (BQ), a specialist in brownfield and landfill renewable energy development acquired by CleanCapital in 2022.
CleanCapital’s in-house development team, led by former BQ CEO Paul Curran, now oversees a project pipeline of nearly 2 GW of solar and more than 8 GWh of energy storage.
“The work we did at BQ Energy, including developing and operating these two exceptional projects, is a source of great pride for me,” said Paul Curran, chief development officer at CleanCapital and former BQ CEO. “Fully integrating the former BQ team into CleanCapital has produced a development team with the expertise, track record, and financial runway to develop, build, and operate hundreds of megawatts in the next few years. Our focus now is to execute on the more than 100 projects in our pipeline and deliver more clean megawatts to our customers as expeditiously as we can.”
The Steel Sun II project is located on the former Bethlehem Steel site on Buffalo’s waterfront and is part of a larger revitalization that includes an array of solar and wind projects. The energy generated by this project is contracted to local mainstays Kaleida Health and Canisius University, the latter of which is meeting its sustainability goals with this project.
“Canisius University benefits from this solar project by seeing lower energy costs, helps us meet the goals set out in our sustainability plan, as well as enhance our commitment to Laudato Si,” stated Joseph Snodgress, director of facilities management at Canisius University.
The Homeridae project is one of two solar arrays in Olean sited on a former oil refinery and tank farm, respectively. The City of Olean is the energy offtake for these projects, which reportedly have demonstrated cost savings to taxpayers in the five years the projects have been operating. Both sites benefited from the Department of Environmental Conservation Region 9 brownfield cleanup program.
“The net metering credits generated by the Homeridae solar project have been a significant benefit to our city budget, allowing us to reallocate savings toward other essential services for our community,” stated William Aiello, Mayor of Olean. “We are excited to see the ongoing positive impact of this oil refinery turned solar project that provides reliable and clean energy to the City of Olean.”
This acquisition brings CleanCapital’s portfolio of operating and under-construction assets to 242 projects totaling 341 MW across 23 states and U.S. territories.
