Manufacturer Toray Plastics (America) Inc. is moving forward with plans to build the state’s largest solar-powered project in an attempt to whittle the company’s $25 million annual electric bill.
The $2 million project – which would be more than eight times larger than the biggest system in place in Rhode Island right now – received a boost last week when economic-development officials awarded a grant and loan totaling $750,000 to the plastic-films manufacturer.
The $250,000 grant and $500,000 loan will help finance a 375-kilowatt system with 1,650 solar panels at the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown. Currently, the largest system is the 192 panels on the roof at United Natural Foods Inc. in Providence.
The R.I. Economic Development Corporation unanimously approved the grant and the 10-year loan from its Renewable Energy Fund.
That money will be combined with a $500,000 renewable energy grant the state awarded to Toray earlier this year and a $454,500 federal-tax grant. Toray Plastics (America) – a division of the Japan-based Toray that employs about 600 in Rhode Island – will invest the remaining $320,457.
In recommending the grant and loan last week, EDC staff members noted that Toray has invested $750 million at its three Rhode Island plants in recent years, and that the company pays $1.105 per kilowatt hour at its Ocean State locations, compared with 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour at its Virginia factory.
“Toray has made it clear to the state … that the cost of electricity will be strongly considered when planning future expansions,” the agency staff wrote in its recommendation.
The company is contemplating a $5 million expansion of an existing product line in Rhode Island and an $11 million addition to its Lumirror division, also in the state, which produces an ultra-thin magnetic tape. State officials said those projects could add another 30 jobs.
Before voting to approve the grant and loan, EDC board member Paul J. Choquette Jr., vice chairman of the construction company Gilbane Inc., voiced hope that the installation work would be done by a Rhode Island company.
Providence-based solar and wind-power company Alteris Renewables Inc. is one of two companies bidding on the job. The other, Opel Solar, is located in Connecticut.
Toray officials said the solar panels should be ready by the third quarter of 2011, and are projected to cut electric costs by about $50,000 annually.
“We are trying to be aggressive in keeping the business in Rhode Island,” Osada said.
Because the Renewable Energy Fund is paid for by a surcharge on the state’s electricity customers based on usage, Toray is one of the biggest contributors, averaging about $48,000 annually.
The solar project is part of a larger effort by Toray to reduce energy costs and promote sustainability, including conducting energy audits and increasing recycling of scrap materials.
Toray said it has spent $5.99 million on new energy-efficient chillers, cooling towers, lighting and heating and air conditioning systems. It also invested $240,000 in a water-filtration system and $129,000 in gas-reduction measures.
The North Kingstown factory “is one of the finest, most-efficient plants of its type in the world,” Gov. Donald L. Carcieri told the EDC board.
Unlike United Natural Foods’ rooftop system, Toray’s solar-power plans call for 1,650 photovoltaic panels to be installed on several acres of the ground at the southern edge of the company’s Quonset property. The panels will be mounted on single-axis trackers.
Spurred on by the availability of millions of dollars in federal stimulus money for renewable energy, the state recently has seen a surge of solar-power projects under consideration that wouldn’t be viable without the help of government subsidies.
The Washington County Regional Planning Council, for instance, received $750,000 from the state earlier this year to study installing a 2-megawatt, ground-based photovoltaic array at a closed dump owned by Westerly. The project would cover 12.5 acres and would cost about $10.5 million.
But solar-power advocates worry that the burst of local activity will quickly fade once the federal money is gone.
The Renewable Energy Fund, for one, appears to be running short on cash. The EDC said the fund has $4.5 million. But the agency said it has committed $2.6 million of that money, and there is another $2 million in grant and loan applications in the pipeline. •
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