New Jersey-based utility Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) has announced that its L&D Solar Farm is online. The 12.93 MW installation represents PSE&G’s largest solar farm to date and is one of the biggest landfill solar projects in the U.S.
The project consists of 41,720 solar panels covering 53 acres of landfill space spanning the towns of Eastampton, Lumberton and Mount Holly, N.J. Waste Management of New Jersey Inc. owns the L&D Landfill, and PSE&G owns and operates the solar farm as part of its Solar 4 All Program. juwi served as the project’s engineering, procurement and construction contractor.
“The L&D Solar Farm is another great example of how landfill-based community solar can increase renewable energy in New Jersey while also giving new purpose to land that would otherwise have very limited development opportunities,” says Courtney McCormick, vice president of renewables and energy solutions for PSE&G. “We have identified dozens of additional landfills that are suitable for solar development and stand ready and willing to return more of these sites to productive use through solar development.”
The L&D Solar Farm is the 28th grid-connected centralized Solar 4 All project and the eighth built on a landfill or brownfield site. PSE&G says the program has now utilized 170 acres of landfill and brownfield space by installing more than 150,000 solar panels, capable of generating 45 MW of solar power, which is enough to power about 7,500 homes annually.
“Waste Management is proud to be part of this project with PSE&G,” states Tara Hemmer, vice president of Waste Management’s greater Mid-Atlantic area. “The L&D Solar Farm is an environmental and economic asset for the region that expands the use of clean, renewable energy in New Jersey.”
“We are excited to have deployed our engineering and construction expertise to a significant landfill redevelopment application,” adds Michael Martin, CEO of juwi. “juwi, Waste Management, PSE&G and other local stakeholders worked diligently and in harmony to maximize this project on landfill space in a manner that honors important environmental considerations and requirements.”
Solar 4 All is a 125 MW community solar program that utilizes rooftops, parking lots, utility poles and landfills/brownfields for large-scale, grid-connected solar projects. Currently, 114 MW of that 125 MW total are in service.
Since 2009, PSE&G says it has invested more than $500 million on the program and created more than 2,000 jobs. For example, at the height of construction, approximately 190 people were on-site working on the L&D solar project in a range of jobs, including electricians, engineers, carpenters, heavy equipment operators and laborers.
Photos: Aerial image of the site under construction courtesy of juwi, and ground-level image courtesy of PSE&G.
