NJR Clean Energy Ventures (CEV), the renewable energy subsidiary of New Jersey Resources, completed the construction of a new 25.6-MW solar project — one of the largest capped landfill solar arrays in North America and the largest in New Jersey. Located on the site of the former Combe Fill North Landfill in Mount Olive, the ground-mounted solar array consists of approximately 56,900 solar panels and will provide enough clean energy to power over 4,000 homes annually.
Credit: NJR Clean Energy Ventures
“NJR Clean Energy Ventures is committed to building a clean energy future with projects like the Mount Olive solar field,” said Steve Westhoven, President and CEO of New Jersey Resources. “By repurposing landfills and other underutilized spaces to produce clean, renewable energy, NJR is helping to power a bright, sustainable future, today and delivering clean energy innovations that drive New Jersey toward our clean energy goals.”
Closed for nearly four decades, the Mount Olive property operated as a landfill from 1966 to 1981. In 1982, it was placed on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priorities List of Superfund sites. Covering 102 acres of underutilized brownfield, the clean power produced at the Mt. Olive solar field will feed into the local distribution system and be sold into the wholesale energy market through regional electrical grid operator PJM Interconnection.
The project was designed, engineered and permitted by CEP Renewables, a developer of grid-connected, utility-scale solar projects with expertise in land unsuited for development, such as landfills, brownfields and Superfunds, to generate clean power. The landfill array was built by CS Energy using union labor.
“With global expertise and proven remediation, engineering and permitting strategies, CEP Renewables is a premier solar developer,” said Robert Pohlman, VP of corporate strategy at CEV. “NJR Clean Energy Ventures has long supported state policy to prioritize underutilized land and bring complex solar projects — from conception to energization — to the marketplace.”
CEV owns and will operate the facility. A leader in the solar marketplace, CEV has invested over $1 billion in residential and commercial solar projects throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. With its portfolio of solar assets, CEV operates over 386 MW of installed capacity, or enough clean energy to power approximately 65,000 homes.
News item from NJR Clean Energy Ventures
