Patrick lauds MWRA, Evergreen clean-energy plans

WINTHROP, Mass. – Gov. Deval L. Patrick today lauded the Mass. Water Resources Authority and manufacturer Evergreen Solar Inc. for their leadership on renewable energy, visiting the Deer Island wastewater treatment facility where the MWRA has just installed a 100-kilowatt array of Evergreen solar panels.
The agency today said it plans to erect two 190-foot wind turbines on the site. “MWRA has been superlative in its efforts to use clean, renewable energy in its operations,” the governor said. “With solar panels today and wind turbines tomorrow – for all to see, as people fly in and out of Logan Airport – MWRA is truly leading by example as we create a clean-energy economy for Massachusetts.”
Another expansion was announced by Richard M. Feldt, Evergreen Solar’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, who joined Patrick at the Deer Island event.

Evergreen (Nasdaq: ESLR) will double the size of the factory it is building in Devens, Mass., adding another 350 jobs, Feldt said.
The Marlboro-based firm last year selected Devens – over several competing locations – in part because of a $44 million state financing package and Patrick’s pledge to increase solar installations statewide from 4 megawatts at the time to 250 megawatts by 2017.
“Phase 1 of our Devens site is on schedule to open by mid 2008 and begin its ramp up to 80 megawatts of production in 2009,” Feldt noted today. “We expect to complete Phase 2 by early 2009, and it should be at its full 80 megawatts annual capacity by the end of 2009, bringing total site capacity to approximately 160 megawatts.

“With this expansion, we will have approximately 1,000 employees in Massachusetts in 2009 – triple our employee base today – and we will be one of the leading ‘green’ employers in the Commonwealth,” Feldt said.
“The vision for broad-scale solar adoption through Governor Patrick’s innovative Commonwealth Solar incentive program plan for clean-energy jobs, as well as the financial incentive package that the governor [and] Legislature provided Evergreen, were key to our decision to put our first major manufacturing facility in Massachusetts.”
The Commonwealth Solar rebate program, launched this January, aims to achieve the installation of 27 megawatts of solar generating capacity over the next four years. It already has accepted 43 applications, for a total of 260 kilowatts of solar capacity. The program is backed by $68 million in existing renewable-energy funds.
“Evergreen Solar is at the leading edge of our clean energy economy in Massachusetts,” Patrick said. “The expansion announced today demonstrates what we can accomplish when the Commonwealth works with industry leaders to create markets, jobs and opportunities in clean-energy technology, for the benefit of our economy and our environment.”

The Deer Island solar and wind projects were instituted in response to “Leading by Example – Clean Energy and Efficient Buildings,” an executive order issued by Patrick last April that sets ambitious goals for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for state agencies. The order calls for state government in Massachusetts to derive 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2015, and 30 percent by 2020.
Another 11 solar projects – at state and community college campuses, the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea and Mass. Department of Correction facilities – are slated for completion this summer. That, with the Deer Island project, will give Massachusetts a 20-percent increase in solar capacity since January.
“Massachusetts is making tremendous progress on solar, building both solar projects and solar jobs,” added Paul Gromer, executive director of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England. “By putting solar on state buildings, the Commonwealth is setting an example for every building owner in Massachusetts to follow. And, with the recently announced Commonwealth Solar program, the state is providing the resources we need to follow that example.”

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Additional news and information from the governor’s office can be found at www.mass.gov.

Evergreen Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR) is a developer and manufacturer of solar-power products based on its proprietary low-cost “String Ribbon” crystalline silicon technology. For more information, visit www.evergreensolar.com.

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