Southold Town has awarded a bid for a solar project at the Cutchogue landfill that officials say they’re confident will materialize. Officials approved a resolution accepting a bid from Summit Ridge Energy, a company based in Arlington Virginia with offices in New York City and Chicago, to construct a 3.5 megawatt solar array and 1 megawatt battery storage facility. “I’m really excited about this and do look forward to seeing a project there,” said Councilman Bob Ghosio ahead of Tuesday’s unanimous vote.
Earlier this year, developers from Summit Ridge presented the town with an unsolicited offer to lease a portion of the landfill, which led to renewed interest in the site by other companies. The town ultimately issued a request for proposals for the project, receiving 11 bids in total. Officials heard presentations from Summit Ridge Energy as well as Dimension Renewable Energy and BQ Energy Development during a work session Tuesday morning.
“I think the company ultimately we’ve selected really gave me the impression that we may see a working project there within two or three years,” Mr. Ghosio said. “It’s going to be a great benefit to the town…It helps us take another step towards fulfilling our goals as a clean energy community.”
Their proposal calls for installing a solar array on 21 acres at the town landfill and also locating a solar battery storage facility on the property. According to the company’s vice president, Will Fischer, who presented the project to town officials Tuesday, their design would not interfere with current waste activities at the transfer station and represents a “symbiotic” system between the array and storage unit.
“[The battery] stores excess energy that the solar panels are producing that would otherwise not make their way back to the grid,” Mr. Fischer said. Summit Ridge, Mr. Fischer said, currently has battery storage projects underway in Southold, Riverhead and Brookhaven.
In addition, the company would work with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to ensure there’s no disturbance to the landfill cap by proposing the use of concrete ballasted blocks that do not penetrate the ground.