Town of Fort Edward Stakeholders Celebrate Operation of 6.9 MW Community Solar Landfill Project
The project will power more than 800 households with clean, renewable energy
Town of Fort Edward, NY – Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure, AC Power, and GreenSpark Solar announced the commercial operation of a 6.9 MW community solar landfill project located in the Town of Fort Edward, NY, owned by KSI, developed by AC Power, and built by GreenSpark. The project is set to deliver clean, renewable energy to more than 800 local households, and the group of stakeholders is celebrating with a virtual ribbon cutting later this month.
This project addresses the Town of Fort Edward’s strategic goals: increasing municipal revenues via a land lease and Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement, slashing energy bills for residents through community solar access, utilizing inoperable municipal land, and forwarding the state’s green agenda. New York State’s nation-leading climate goals include 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030.
“This new solar landfill project brings our growing portfolio to over 75 operating solar projects and is squarely in our mission to accelerate the energy transition,” said John Chaimanis, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure (“KSI”). “Our project benefits the Town, the State and the many households and businesses that get energy savings from a clean energy source,” said Ken Lehman, Co-Founder and Managing Director of KSI.
AC Power, a woman-owned development company specializing in transforming previously disturbed land into productive solar fields, initially developed the two projects. GreenSpark Solar provided industry-leading engineering, procurement, and construction services, while Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure is the long-term owner and operator of the project.
“The Town of Fort Edward’s unique vision to transform a former landfill into a community solar project years before the rest of the industry caught up is truly inspiring,” Ms. Colston said. “This project supports New York State’s ambitious clean energy goals and showcases how innovative approaches can turn environmental challenges into sustainable opportunities. We are grateful to have partnered with a range of experienced, dedicated stakeholders in making this project a reality.”
The 58-acre site, operating as a landfill from 1969 to 1991, had long been a symbol of environmental burden. Post-closure, the site required extensive environmental management, including an impermeable landfill cap, a leachate collection system, and wetland cells to mitigate hazardous waste impacts. The Town of Fort Edward issued an RFP in 2019, seeking visionary developers to repurpose this site.
About AC Power, LLC
AC Power is a mission-driven, woman-owned business specializing in transforming previously disturbed sites such as closed landfills, sand pits, quarries, and former coal mines into productive solar PV facilities. Our team recognizes the challenges and potential risks associated with developing previously disturbed sites, including legislative or regulatory hurdles, natural resource concerns, and existing environmental conditions. We pride ourselves on our ability to proactively address these concerns and mitigate risks from the outset, to successfully bring solar PV facilities to operation. https://www.acpowerllc.com/
About Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure
Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure, LLC (“KSI”) is dedicated to building and owning sustainable, long-lived assets, including solar, water, and other infrastructure projects. We believe that changing the way people get electricity and manage water can be done more resiliently and cleanly. Doing this improves the quality of life for all of us. We believe that by empowering local companies through the provision of finance and a problem solving mindset that we can deliver these very heavily demanded solutions. The local companies that we empower will grow, their communities will grow stronger, and we can produce attractive returns to our investors. As of today, the company has completed over 60 distributed infrastructure transactions. KSI provides capital to local developers and EPC contractors during development and at project takeout with the ultimate goal of ownership. Investments range from $500k to $20M per project. For more information about collaborating on projects or our investment program, please visit https://www.kendallsustainableinfrastructure.com.
About GreenSpark Solar
GreenSpark Solar is an independent solar company providing industry-leading and high quality EPC solutions since 2002. Our dedicated team of experts specialize in delivering customer-centric, streamlined, turnkey solar solutions that benefit all stakeholders. As a Certified B Corp and member-owner of the Amicus Solar Cooperative, GreenSpark is able to offer our partners industry-best pricing on quality equipment and solutions you can trust. GreenSpark is recognized as a NYSERDA Gold Quality Installer and Top Contractor by Solar Power World.