Construction begins on 22-MW New York community solar portfolio
CS Energy, a renewable energy EPC, and CVE North America, and independent power producer, have broken ground on a 22-MW portfolio of four community solar projects in western New York State.
Members of CS Energy, CVE North America, and supervisors from Sheridan and Pomfret gathered at the ceremonial groundbreaking event for this portfolio of community solar projects.
CVE developed these projects, all of which will use Solar FlexRack solar trackers. These projects will bring the total amount of solar energy projects completed between CS Energy and CVE North America to over 50 MW.
All four projects will provide discounted electricity bills for over 4,000 low-to-middle income residents and are expected to reach completion by Q4 2023.
“We chose CS Energy for this set of projects due to our strong alignment in terms of transparency, integrity and efficiency,” said Ben Dereume, technical director of CVE. “CS Energy provided exceptional customer service on the last seven projects we completed together in Massachusetts — from value engineering to overcoming supply chain constraints, to assisting with permit and town requests. We fully anticipate CS Energy will prove to be a reliable partner on these additional projects as well.”
New York is currently the largest community solar market in the country. On average, community solar projects in New York have provided a 5 to 10% discount on energy bills for local residents. These projects also reflect the growing trend of community solar throughout the nation, with Wood Mackenzie predicting that community solar capacity in the United States will double by 2027.
“We are grateful to have the opportunity to apply our expertise in site optimization, strategic procurement and efficient execution of high quality solar projects for such an impactful set of community solar projects,” said Lance Dunning, VP of business development at CS Energy. “We look forward to building upon our five-year long partnership with CVE to help supply more affordable clean, renewable energy that can be consumed locally by residents.”
In addition to providing savings to local residents in Western New York State, this portfolio of projects will also contribute to the state’s goal to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and the governor’s goal to achieve 10 GW of solar by 2030.
News item from CS Energy: