NextEra Energy Resources, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and PSEG Long Island celebrated the commissioning of the Kings Park Solar Project on the site of a former landfill in New York that officially began operations in December 2018.

“We are pleased to bring new life to this site, which once collected generations of waste and is now generating clean, renewable energy for the benefit of Long Island,” said Ross Groffman, VP of NextEra Energy Resources.

The 4-MW facility is owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources and will provide renewable energy to LIPA customers under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project features more than 18,000 RECOM solar panels covering the site of the former Kings Park landfill, which closed in 1979.

“NextEra’s Kings Park Solar Project allows Long Island to take a step away from fossil fuels, while redeveloping a former landfill into part of the clean electric grid of the future,” said Tom Falcone, LIPA CEO. “This unique project enables our service provider, PSEG Long Island, to continue to provide clean and reliable power to our customers.”

The project was originally developed by BQ Energy and an affiliate of RECOM, a European panel manufacturer. The panels featured at the Kings Park Solar Project were manufactured at RECOM’s French facility.

“We are truly happy to see this project come to fruition and serve the community,” said Hamlet Tunyan, CEO of RECOM. “We look forward to similar joint efforts with our partners in the future as we expand our presence in the U.S. and contribute to the spread of renewable energy.”

Construction of the project began in November 2017, creating approximately 50 jobs, employing mainly local labor.

News item from NextEra