From brown liability to bright asset
Brockton, Massachusetts, is home to the largest
brownfield to brightfield project in the United States, which saw
the installation of a 465-kilowatt solar generation facility on a
former toxic waste site.
By Vicky Boyd
The city of Brockton, Massachusetts, has taken
what was
a blighted area and former Superfund toxic waste site and
turned it green with the installation of a 465-kilowatt
solar-generation facility.
The transformation from brownfield to brightfield is the largest
project of its type in the nation, says Lori Ribeiro, a brownfield
consultant who worked with the city as the project manager. "The
city leaders were very, very excited about this project, because it
took idle blighted land and turned it into an asset that was
productive," she says.
Since its dedication little more than a year ago, the project has
received national accolades and attention as an example of how to
transform an environmental liability into an asset.
But Ribeiro admits it wasn't without challenges, such as securing
financing, amending state law to allow the city to operate an
electrical generation facility and working around
the cap over the
waste site. In fact, the original plan drafted in 2000 called for
the project to be developed in two phases.
The first phase involved
3.7 acres and the roughly 500 kW photovoltaic installation. The
second phase involved about five acres of usable land directly
across the road from the first site and a similar-sized PV
installation.
The city is not actively pursuing Phase 2 because of the challenges
encountered when it sought financing of the first project, Ribeiro
says. But she says that might change, depending on what happens with
Governor Deval Patrick's efforts to make his state the "clean energy
capital of the world." Massachusetts currently has about two
megawatts of solar electricity generation, and, ambitiously, Patrick
says he wants to increase that to 250 MW within the next 10 years.
The term "brightfield" was coined by the Clinton Administration to
describe projects that meet three criteria: They must involve
cleaning up a brownfield site; they must attract PV-product
manufacturing and accompanying jobs; and they must involve
installing solar-generation panels on the site.
Chicago boasted the nation's first brightfield in the late 1990s
with the establishment of the Spire Solar Chicago PV manufacturing
plant. But parent company Spire Corp. eventually relocated the plant
to its Massachusetts headquarters.
With 465 kW of solar-generated electricity, the Brockton brightfield
is the nation's largest and meets the three criteria. The solar
manufacturing component involved Schott Solar Inc. in nearby
Billerica, Massachusetts.
The Brockton brightfield sits on the former Brockton Gas Light Co.'s
gas works site, which is now owned by Bay State Gas of Westborough,
Massachusetts. Waste coal tar and ash that had accumulated since the
19th century prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
declare it a Superfund site.
During the 1990s and through early 2004, Bay State Gas, which had
purchased the property, performed remediation on the site. Final
remediation involved capping materials about 18 inches below the
surface. Under an arrangement, Bay State Gas retained ownership of
the land, but leased it to the city for 30 years.
The city of Brockton conducted a feasibility study of the site in
2000. Because it was a former brownfield, Ribeiro says the city was
barred from using it for houses or a park and was limited in how it
could develop it. Solar seemed to fit best, although it had some
inherent drawbacks.
"It was a solar project, and solar is the most expensive form of
electricity," Ribeiro says. "Generally, it's only cost-effective
when there are rebates. But in the case of this property, there
really was nothing else you could do with this, so it was ideally
suited."
Although many of the neighbors initially were leery of the project,
fearing it would reflect too much glare or worsen an already
blighted area, Ribeiro says they quickly became supporters once they
learned of the project's details.
Securing financing was a challenge, since the city was navigating
uncharted waters, Ribeiro says. Lenders also were wary of the
project, because of solar electricity's costs compared with
conventionally generated power.
The city received a $1 million grant from the Massachusetts
Technical Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust. Of that, $840,000
was an installation grant, says Emily Dahl, public information
officer for the collaborative.
The remaining funds are from the collaborative's agreement to buy
renewable energy credits associated with the project.
Although the trust fund helps underwrite mostly smaller projects,
Dahl says fund officials supported Brockton's efforts because of its
unique benefits. The city also received a $789,000 Department of
Energy grant. The remaining funds came from $1.6 million of
city-issued bonds.
Despite successfully securing funding, Rubiero says the city still
had to overcome state law that barred communities from financing or
operating energy-producing facilities.
In 2004, Brockton filed a Home Rule petition in the Legislature,
seeking such authority. But the proposal died in January 2005 for
lack of a vote. Undaunted, the city later that year sought special
legislation that would allow it to proceed with the solar project.
Then-Governor Mitt Romney signed the special law, paving the way for
Brockton to issue a request for proposals and eventually award the
contract.
Global Solar Energy Inc., whose integrated systems business unit has
since been purchased by SOLON America Corp. of Tucson, Arizona, was
the general contractor on the project and coordinated the different
firms and suppliers involved. But Tim Westover, SOLON vice president
of sales and engineering, says it was "very much a total team
effort" with Landerholm Electric Co. of Brockton, the general
contractor for the project.
Brockton's solar system has a total of 1,390 modules from Schott
Solar. The panels were mounted as a fixed tilt system at a
latitude for optimum year-round performance.
In developing the project plans, Ribeiro says the engineers had to
maintain the integrity of the cap that was 18 inches below the
surface, as well as assure the site was aesthetically acceptable to
the local residents. "We used several hundred yards of compacted
crushed concrete put on top of that and added an extra layer of
soil, so when we installed the solar panels, we could anchor them 18
inches deep," she says.
The contracting firm J. Derenzo of Brockton was responsible for site
development and used about 6,000 cubic yards of concrete to create
an 18-inch-thick platform on which to install the solar panels.
Working around a cap on a brownfield was a new experience, Westover
says. "With a typical ground mount, we consult a structural engineer
to make sure the mounting system uplift load requirement is met by
the anchoring system," he says. "For Brockton, we also had to make
sure the structural system would meet the load requirements, and
then, based on the anchoring system depth Colar and Colantonio Inc.
of Norwell, Massachusetts., the project's environmental engineer,
reviewed the predesign plans as well as each step throughout the
actual job. The firm also worked closely with everybody to ensure
they understood the cap location and to ensure that state water and
drainage system requirements were met.
Brockton's solar system relies upon 1,390 ASE300 310-kW modules from
Schott Solar. The panels were mounted as a fixed tilt system at a
latitude for optimum year-round performance and had to withstand
winds of more than 80 miles per hour.
Not only did engineers have to consider sun angle when determining
panel placement, but they also had to ensure Bay State had access to
monitoring wells and other testing maintenance sites, Ribeiro says.
A power converter system from Satcon Technology Corp. of Boston
converts the direct current to alternating current, and Fat Spaniel
Technologies of San Jose, California, supplied the data acquisition
and monitoring systems.
As part of its general contracting responsibilities, Landerholm
Electric Co. installed the entire solar system, including solar
panels and other electrical equipments to connect to the utility
grid. Landerholm also is responsible for the solar system
maintenance and operations, and is responsible for facility
security. Landscaping surrounds the fence that encloses the panels.
The site features a learning plaza that several local teachers
already say they plan to use as part of field trips to teach
students about solar energy, pollution and the environment.
Constellation NewEnergy of Baltimore, Maryland, has agreed to buy
the anticipated 535 megawatts of electricity generated annually for
about $130,000 each year. The project was designed to be revenue
neutral, so the generation revenue as well as proceeds from sales of
the renewable energy credits will fund bond repayment and
maintenance and operations, Ribeiro says. Because Brockton is an
economically distressed area, she says city leaders would never have
supported a project that would have required continual financial
support.
Despite the few speed bumps encountered along the five years it took
the project to come to fruition, Westover's opinion no doubt mirrors
those of others involved. "It turned out to be a very, very good
project, but it was a little more complicated than we had
anticipated," Westover says. "But it all worked out.
"It was our first brownfield project, but we think we are well
experienced to do more. We think it's a great
opportunity for land use."
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