Red Bank-based CEP Renewables designed, engineered and permitted the 25.6-megawatt Mount Olive solar landfill project. – CEP RENEWABLES
The renewable energy subsidiary of Wall-based New Jersey Resources completed a 25.6-megawatt (MW) solar project in Mount Olive — making it the largest capped landfill solar array in the state and one of the largest in North America, according to a Nov. 30 announcement.
Located on the site of the former Combe Fill North Landfill, the ground-mounted solar array features approximately 56,900 solar panels and will provide enough clean energy to power more than 4,000 homes, and reduce emissions by 23,940 tons, a year, according to NJR Clean Energy Ventures.
The landfill operated from 1966 to 1982, the company said, when it was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List of Superfund sites.
Westhoven
“NJR Clean Energy Ventures is committed to building a clean energy future with projects like the Mount Olive solar field,” NJ Resources President and CEO Steve Westhoven said in a statement. “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.”
Gov. Phil Murphy’s Energy Master Plan aims to convert the state to 100% clean energy by 2050.
NJR Clean Energy Ventures owns and will operate the facility, which covers 102 acres of underutilized brown field. The clean power produced at the site will feed into the local distribution system and be sold into the wholesale energy market through regional electrical grid operator PJM Interconnection, which is headquartered in Pennsylvania.
The Mount Olive project was designed, engineered and permitted by Red Bank-based CEP Renewables LLC. According to a Dec. 2 statement from CEP, this project enabled the township to recoup nearly $2.3 million in past taxes.
To date, NJR Clean Energy Ventures has invested more than $1 billion in residential and commercial solar projects throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:28 a.m. ET Dec. 5 to include a photo of the project as well as tax information from CEP.
