by Mona Mahadevan The New Haven independent
The site of the new solar farm will be next to the city’s very active waste transfer station.
The first of 1,920 solar panels, to be installed in the next six to eight months.
The city’s old dump at 260 Middletown Ave. is getting one last load — not of garbage, but of 1,920 solar panels, set to top the capped landfill within six to eight months.
The plans to begin work on the new solar farm were announced Tuesday afternoon by top city officials at a press conference next to the site. Mayor Justin Elicker, Office of Climate & Sustainability Executive Director Steven Winter, and Greenskies Clean Energy Vice President Ryan Linares all spoke at the event.
The project, led by solar developer Greenskies Clean Energy, marks the city’s latest initiative to reduce its carbon footprint and increase its renewable energy supply.
According to a press release sent Monday, Greenskies plans to install more than one megawatt of solar panels, yielding over 1.4 million kilowatt hours of power each year. That amount of energy is “enough to power 200 homes’ electricity use for one year, equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by recycling over 81,000 trash bags of waste” or “the carbon sequestered by nearly 16,000 tree seedlings grown for ten years.”
On Tuesday, Elicker noted that the development, planned for one of the highest points in the city, can be seen from the Interstate 91. That level of visibility, he continued, “makes a statement about our city and the fact that we care so much about being environment stewards.”
He then listed the city’s other recent climate initiatives, including its fleet of 50 electric vehicles, expansion of low-carbon or no-carbon public transport options (such as Veo electric scooters), and green-ification of buildings like Union Station.
He also noted that New Haven already produces three megawatts of solar energy, which includes power from solar panels installed on 19 public school roofs, and has another 2.5 megawatts in production.
Aside from the environmental benefits, added Winter, the project will yield a benefit to taxpayers: from the lease with Greenskies, the city will receive $6,000 per month for 20 years, yielding a total of $1.4 million in new revenue. City spokesperson Lenny Speiller said later on Tuesday that the funds would be directed to the city’s general fund — specifically, the budget line “Miscellaneous Revenue.”
Linares noted that the planned location, an unused landfill, is “ideal” for both the project and the city. Given its height, it receives “unobstructed sunlight, from morning to night, which maximizes energy production on site,” he said. The project is also “transforming land that has limited other uses,” especially given its proximity to a very active waste transfer station.
Tuesday’s announcement comes just two months after the passage of the Trump administration’s giant domestic policy bill, which phases out a Biden-era initiative that offered tax credits for wind and solar power projects that began construction by 2034. Now, renewable developers will have to start building by July 2026 to have the strongest chance of receiving a full credit (worth at least 30 percent of development costs), a deadline that Linares said Greenskies would meet.
Even with the credits, Linares told the Independent that the installation would cost Greenskies “a few million.” The power will be sold to United Illuminating (UI) at a fixed rate for 20 years, he added, which is “a good deal” for UI since they’ll receive a “consistent energy cost” over a long period of time.
Winter agreed, explaining that Greenskies had been selected by the city through a “reverse auction.” Energy developers responded to the city’s request for proposals for the site in 2023 by bidding the lowest possible rate that they’d sell power to UI. Greenskies was selected in part because of its bid, said Winter, but also for its substantial portfolio of solar developments, including 11 other landfill projects throughout the state.
Winter also acknowledged that solar and wind power is highly variable, and their peak production times might not match peak demand times. (For example, demand for electricity is highest during the summer when people come home from work, but by that point, the sun is usually beginning to set.) While battery technology for storing renewable energy is still extremely expensive, Winter noted that prices have been reducing substantially. If batteries get cheap enough, he said, then it might one day be possible to deploy stored solar and wind power “when it’s most needed.”
The project has been almost two and a half years in the making. According to Winter and Linares, the project initially went through a rigorous due diligence process with various city and state agencies. One major concern was preventing methane, produced by decomposing organic matter in landfills, from escaping the ground. While the landfill has been capped with two feet of soil for several decades, which should insulate the atmosphere from methane, Linares said Greenskies would take extra precautions. For examples, they’ll keep large trucks on asphalt and use smaller vehicles to transport materials from the road to the landfill itself.
“We’re seeing a lot of growth in energy demand, especially from data centers and A.I.,” said Winter, and renewables are “the fastest source of energy that can be put on the grid.”
While the new energy supply will remain local, UI will delegate where exactly the new power is distributed.
Ryan Linares said the Middletown Avenue project is Greenskies’s 14th solar project in New Haven and the largest one yet.
The landfill has been topped with two feet of soil for decades.
Justin Elicker described the Trump administration as “anti-environment,” which is bad for both the climate and the economy.