The MassDOT Board of Directors unanimously approved a company to build one of the largest solar arrays in the state in Dedham.
The board voted Wednesday, Sept. 12, to approve Gehrlicher Solar America Corporation to design, install and maintain a solar photovoltaic system at Readville Yard 5 in Dedham as well as a smaller system at Wonderland Garage in Revere.
In the spring, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority opened up Readville Yard 5, which it owns, for the construction of the facility.
The contract requires that the facility be operational by October 2013.
“The site was attractive because it was half of a large rail yard the MBTA got control of in the 1970s,” Andrew Brennan, director of Environmental Affairs for the MBTA, said on Thursday, Sept. 13. “We didn’t have a transportation need for it and there are not a lot of places we have 20 acres sitting open we can do something like this on.”
The MBTA is the largest consumer of electricity in Massachusetts, which provides reasons to seek out alternative energy sources, Brennan said.
“We have a responsibility to lead by example and push sustainability further than anybody else and at the same time with the struggling economy, energy is a big part of our operating budget,” Brennan said. “We’re trying to find ways to reduce energy consumption or get cheaper energy.”
The MBTA’s deal with Gehrlicher guarantees a minimum production of 1.7 million kilowatt hours per year for 20 years, which the MBTA has agreed to buy at a rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour, Brennan explained.
This is down from an estimated 2.5 million kilowatt hours per year estimated in April.
That translates to a yearly savings of just under $50,000 and with no up-front cost to build, he added.
“We’re extremely excited about it,” Mike Donaghy, manager of energy efficiency for the MBTA, said in the spring, when the plan was first announced. “This tells a really good story about the MBTA’s commitment to green energy, energy conservation and cost savings.”
Gehrlicher will install at least 2,400 kilowatts of solar generating capacity at Readville Yard 5. The New Jersey-based company was one of four companies to bid on the project, three of which were found to be acceptable by the MBTA, according to an MBTA statement.
The MBTA put the project out to bid because other companies can take advantage of solar tax credits that the MBTA cannot as a tax-exempt organization.
Under the agreement, the MBTA will retain ownership of the land while Gehrlicher will own the facility on the Dedham/Hyde Park line.
Remediation of the site, involving removing harmful substances like led and arsenic, was recently completed, Donaghy said in a past interview.
Brennan said Thursday that the MBTA would try to pursue other opportunities for solar once more data had been collected about the efficiency of the Readville Yard 5 site.
Staff writer Dave Eisenstadter can be reached at 781-433-8336 or deisenstadter@wickedlocal.com. Like The Dedham Transcript on Facebook and follow @DedhamTranscrip on Twitter.
The MassDOT Board of Directors unanimously approved a company to build one of the largest solar arrays in the state in Dedham.
The board voted Wednesday, Sept. 12, to approve Gehrlicher Solar America Corporation to design, install and maintain a solar photovoltaic system at Readville Yard 5 in Dedham as well as a smaller system at Wonderland Garage in Revere.
In the spring, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority opened up Readville Yard 5, which it owns, for the construction of the facility.
The contract requires that the facility be operational by October 2013.
“The site was attractive because it was half of a large rail yard the MBTA got control of in the 1970s,” Andrew Brennan, director of Environmental Affairs for the MBTA, said on Thursday, Sept. 13. “We didn’t have a transportation need for it and there are not a lot of places we have 20 acres sitting open we can do something like this on.”
The MBTA is the largest consumer of electricity in Massachusetts, which provides reasons to seek out alternative energy sources, Brennan said.
“We have a responsibility to lead by example and push sustainability further than anybody else and at the same time with the struggling economy, energy is a big part of our operating budget,” Brennan said. “We’re trying to find ways to reduce energy consumption or get cheaper energy.”
The MBTA’s deal with Gehrlicher guarantees a minimum production of 1.7 million kilowatt hours per year for 20 years, which the MBTA has agreed to buy at a rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour, Brennan explained.
This is down from an estimated 2.5 million kilowatt hours per year estimated in April.
That translates to a yearly savings of just under $50,000 and with no up-front cost to build, he added.
“We’re extremely excited about it,” Mike Donaghy, manager of energy efficiency for the MBTA, said in the spring, when the plan was first announced. “This tells a really good story about the MBTA’s commitment to green energy, energy conservation and cost savings.”
Gehrlicher will install at least 2,400 kilowatts of solar generating capacity at Readville Yard 5. The New Jersey-based company was one of four companies to bid on the project, three of which were found to be acceptable by the MBTA, according to an MBTA statement.
The MBTA put the project out to bid because other companies can take advantage of solar tax credits that the MBTA cannot as a tax-exempt organization.
Under the agreement, the MBTA will retain ownership of the land while Gehrlicher will own the facility on the Dedham/Hyde Park line.
Remediation of the site, involving removing harmful substances like led and arsenic, was recently completed, Donaghy said in a past interview.
Brennan said Thursday that the MBTA would try to pursue other opportunities for solar once more data had been collected about the efficiency of the Readville Yard 5 site.
Staff writer Dave Eisenstadter can be reached at 781-433-8336 or deisenstadter@wickedlocal.com. Like The Dedham Transcript on Facebook and follow @DedhamTranscrip on Twitter.
