Greenskies To Build Solar Project For Its Connecticut Hometown

Solar Industry | Joseph Bebon
April 27, 2017

Connecticut-based Greenskies Renewable Energy has signed a contract with the City of Middletown, Conn., to build a 217 kW solar photovoltaic system on a parcel of city property adjacent to the Higby/Bacon Water Treatment Plant.

The ground-mounted solar system will consist of 714 solar panels and seven inverters. According to Middletown Energy Coordinator Michael Harris, the solar project will save the city about $14,000 per year in electrical costs and displace about 272,000 kWh of utility-generated electricity with renewable energy.

Greenskies and the city have entered a 20-year power purchase agreement under which Greenskies will design, engineer, construct, maintain and own the new solar array at no cost to the city. The company will then sell the power produced at the site back to the city at a fixed and discounted rate for the length of the agreement.

“This project offers a model for the city of Middletown in which we can fix our delivered electricity unit costs at a substantially reduced rate for the next 20 years,” says Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew. “We think applying this model across all city and board of education buildings is an important and attractive option to pursue.”

Construction on the project is scheduled to begin this spring, and the system is expected to be operational by the end of the summer. Based in Middletown, Greenskies is a nine-year-old company that designs, builds and maintains solar photovoltaic systems for commercial and industrial clients, municipalities and government agencies, educational institutions and utilities throughout the U.S.

“We have completed several successful solar projects here in our home city and look forward to working with Mayor Drew and city officials on yet another project that will benefit the citizens and taxpayers of Middletown,” says Will Herchel, Greenskies’ president.