PROVIDENCE – The Narragansett Bay Commission on Wednesday announced it has finalized a deal to build two solar-energy projects totaling 9.7 megawatts in Coventry and Richmond.
The two projects, pending local approvals, would give the quasi-governmental agency the capacity to be fully powered by renewable energy.
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“The NBC will essentially achieve net zero energy use with these projects,” said Vincent Mesolella, Narragansett Bay Commission chairman.
The first project, a 5.4-megawatt array, is slated for construction in Richmond and scheduled to come online by the end of the year. The second project, totaling 4.2 megawatts, will be built in Coventry and is scheduled for completion next spring, pending local approval.
The Narragansett Bay Commission, the state’s largest wastewater treatment regulator, is based in Providence and has hired Green Development Inc., formerly known as Wind Energy Development Inc., to build the two solar projects at no upfront cost to the agency.
Indeed, Green Development will pay for the construction with the help of federal subsidies. The cost of the projects was not immediately disclosed.
In exchange, the North Kingstown-based renewable energy developer will benefit from about 25 percent of the proceeds realized on long-term utility contracts through a program dubbed “virtual net metering,” according to the comission. The agency will benefit from the remaining 75 percent of the contract.
Virtual net metering, approved by the R.I. General Assembly in 2016, allows entities to offset on-site energy costs with credits accumulated from electricity generated off-site and sold back to National Grid PLC, the state’s largest utility.
The comission estimates the credits it receives through the program will help save it more than $18 million in electric costs, and offset an estimated 110,092 metric tons of carbon dioxide over a 25-year period.
“The dollars we save on energy can help buffer the other costs the Narragansett Bay Commission must undertake to meet our clean water mandates,” Mesolella said.
The new solar projects will complement the the agency operations of six existing 1.5-megawatt wind turbines in Providence and Coventry. The commission is also building a 600-kilowatt biogas project at the Bucklin Power Point Wastewater Treatment Facility in East Providence.
The projects will give the Narragansett Bay Commission the capacity to fully operate using electricity generated by renewable sources, which is a goal the agency set for itself to achieve by 2020.
Clarification: The solar projects will be constructed pending local approval.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
