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Sunny Days for Renewable Energy in Philadelphia
Renewable energy, generated on renewed property. It doesn’t get much greener than that.
Philadelphia’s newly elected Mayor Michael Nutter announced on April 29th that a solar energy plant will be built on the city’s premier brownfield – the former Philadelphia Navy Yard along the Delaware River. The navy yard was transferred to the city in 2000, after the EPA oversaw the cleanup of several portions of the property, making it suitable for commercial redevelopment.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and PA Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty announce the kick-off of a new solar energy project to be built on Philadelphia's former Navy Yard site. The city was recently named a Solar American City by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The $8-$12 million plant should be, by the end of the year, putting out enough energy to power 200 homes annually. The project is being developed by Epuron, a German company which recently expanded its operations to the United States in 2006, with Philadelphia as its U.S. headquarters.
Epuron will generate the solar energy and sell it to Exelon, parent company of the local energy supplier, PECO Energy. In turn, the power will be released to the electrical grid. Epuron recently built another major solar installation just north of Philadelphia in Bucks County. Combined with the Navy Yard project, the two installations create the largest solar panel project on the East Coast.
“I am so pleased that this project is transforming environmentally marginal land into a new and sustainable form of energy for this city,” said the mayor. “Economic development does not have to get in the way of environmental progress.”
This public-private partnership is a joint effort among the governor’s office, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., Exelon and Epuron.
This solar project may be just the beginning. The City of Philadelphia was just named a “Solar American City” -- a Department of Energy award given to large cities to help launch solar technologies. The city will receive $200,000 to study ways to triple the capacity of solar energy plants by 2011.
Article contributed by
Ruth Wuenschel
EPA’s Land Revitalization Update