Ameresco and Inovateus Solar announced the completion of a 2.62 MW brownfield solar project.
September 2, 2022 Anne Fischer
Clean technology integrator Ameresco, Inc. and a former brownfield is turning green with the completion of a Danville solar system announced by Inovateus Solar, a solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company. The project was built on a brownfield site of the former General Motors Powertrain Division Plant. Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company, an independent power producer and green energy investment company, owns the installation.
The 2.62 MW system consists of more than 6,600 solar modules and is connected to the Ameren utility grid. The completed project is expected to generate more than 3,600,000 kWh of electricity and emit more than 1,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, or the equivalent of powering 350 Illinois homes and taking about 480 cars off the road.
“By deploying solar energy on indoor landfills, we can turn a serious problem into a huge opportunity,” said Tyler Kanczuzewski, vice president of sustainability at Inovateus. “The Danville Solar project makes productive use of land that would otherwise remain idle by avoiding construction in more pristine areas. We are proud to partner with Ameresco on this project and help Illinois achieve its clean energy goals.”
This project contributes to the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act, which calls for 2,700 MW of solar power to be installed in Illinois by 2030, with 2% of those projects coming from brownfield sites. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, Illinois has a strong and growing solar market due to its renewable portfolio standard, which requires 25% of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2025. The amount of installed solar capacity in Illinois is currently 1.5 GW, and is expected to grow more than 1,700% over the next five years. Illinois ranks 17th in the nation for installed solar power.
“We are proud to be a partner in this project, which is designed to help meet sustainability goals and offer clean, sustainable energy to the surrounding community,” said Louis P. Maltezos, executive vice president of Ameresco. “This installation is a prime example of using innovative clean technology solutions to identify clean energy uses for public lands.”
The Danville solar project began construction in November 2020 and was completed in May 2022.
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