CEP Renewables, CS Energy, Terrasmart, Lindsay Precast and NJR Clean Energy Ventures announced the completion of a 25.6 MWdc landfill solar project in Mount Olive, New Jersey, the largest in North America to date. The Mount Olive project turns the former landfill into a solar power plant and allows the community to recoup nearly $2.3 million in past taxes.
According to Chris Ichter, Executive Vice President at CEP Renewables, There are over 10,000 closed landfills in the US Some of these landfills have even existed for several decades. However, only a small number of them have been rehabilitated, owing to many associated remediation challenges, including the specific expertise and complex procedures required.
CEP Renewables and other partners have extensive experience in remediating environmentally impacted sites, recognized by the local community for completing this public-private partnership.
“We are pleased that, in close cooperation with our reliable, long-term partners, we were able to convert another previously unusable landfill into a power plant for the generation of renewable energy,” said Ichter.
In addition to providing significant financial and environmental benefits to the city, the Mount Olive project is notable for its notable benefits unique business model, including the purchase of the landfill through remediation and tax lien foreclosure proceedings. It received the 2021 Award for Innovation in Governance from the New Jersey League of Municipalities and is now serving as a model for the development of many other closed landfills across the United States
As part of this partnership, CEP Renewables owns the land for the project and leases it to NJR Clean Energy Ventures. NJR Clean Energy Ventures will own and operate the Mount Olive solar facility for the long term.
Landfill solar projects worldwide have accelerated in recent years. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), they existed an 80 percent Increase in the number of landfill solar projects in the US between 2015 and 2020. While in the UK, under Environment Agency (EA) regulation, a number of landfills have also been replaced by solar projects. This summer, a solar farm in Wolverhampton was completed on a former landfill and is expected to generate approximately 6.9 MWh of clean energy per year.