FALMOUTH – Falmouth has its contractor for the solar array that will be constructed at the town’s capped landfill.
Citizens Energy, the non-profit energy firm founded by Joseph Kennedy II in 1999, will construct the array after being chosen from seven bidding potential contractors earlier this month.
According to Michael Galasso, the Chairman of the Falmouth Economic Development and Industrial Corporation, the array should save the town anywhere between $250,000 and $500,000 annually in energy costs. Citizens Energy says the project should generate about six megawatts of energy each year.
The energy generated by Citizens Energy will be sold back to the town at a discounted rate and will be used to power town buildings.
Along with the main solar array, Citizens Energy also plans to build a second array that will generate power for roughly 200 low income homes in Falmouth. That setup is expected to generate about 2 megawatts of energy.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring and should wrap by the end of the year.
Falmouth is the latest town on Cape Cod to use a capped landfill for a renewable energy project, after town meeting voters in November approved zoning changes to the property, allowing plans to move forward.
“We had to wait a few more years in order for the landfill to settle before we could start building anything on top of it, but it’s a good way to get clean, renewable energy into our communities,” Galasso said.
The EDIC will lease the land from the town of Falmouth, and will in turn sublease the property to Citizens Energy. The array will be maintained, owned, and operated by Citizens Energy.
Citizens Energy will reimburse the EDIC the $100,000 the organization spent researching plans for the the installation of the array.
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