A former landfill in the Maryland city of Annapolis is produced 12 MW of solar-generated electricity at capacity thanks to a new project by Novis Renewable Holdings.
The site is made up of 55,000 solar panels. While the landfill was not suitable for other types of development in the area, it was ideal for solar energy due to its high elevation and no tree cover.
The site, operated by Novis Renewable Holdings, is only visible to a few nearby residents during the winter.
The solar arrays provide energy to Annapolis, Anne Arundel County and the Anne Arundel County Board of Education.
“The city of Annapolis was a leader in converting a vast urban brownfield into a place where clean, renewable energy is produced to serve the energy needs of the city and Anne Arundel County,” said Jacqueline Guild, Annapolis Deputy City Manager for Resilience and Sustainability. “We took a contaminated site and turned it into an asset that is generating revenue, providing inexpensive power, and reducing local greenhouse gas emissions.”
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DNR’s Power Plant Research Program (PPRP) Director, Bob Sadzinski said that solar projects are important to meet the state’s renewable energy goals.
“Gov. Moore has positioned Maryland as a leader in green energy with some of the most aggressive renewable energy goals in the nation,” Sadzinski said. “By 2030, Maryland is planning for 50% of our energy to come from renewables, of which 14.5% is expected to come from solar.”
PPRP not only conducts consolidated environmental reviews of all issues related to power generation and transmission in the state but also aims to allow Maryland to meet electricity demands at a reasonable cost while considering a variety of environmental and socioeconomic factors, from protecting natural resources and historical sites to promoting environmental justice and job creation.
The Maryland Public Service Commission has approved 54 utility-scale solar projects, with eight more in progress. Out of the approved projects, 37 projects are operational.
According to Sadzinski, solar power has a capacity of 1,950 MW of electricity across the state, or about 4.3 million MWh of energy annually, with another 882 MW anticipated from new sites to be built over next three years, enough to power about 429,000 homes every year.
PPRP has sponsored an interactive map-based screening tool, SmartDG+ to help developers and officials identify potential locations for future solar and wind projects based on proximity to electrical lines, land cover, zoning and other factors.
PPRP also manages a program to provide a pollinator-friendly designation to solar facilities. The program boosts solar sites to use a seed mix of native Maryland wildflowers to be planted in the open space around arrays to attract pollinators.
Annapolis is also planning to add signage to a trail adjoining the site to inform residents about the solar panels.
