Newark-based Genie Energy Ltd. on Tuesday said it received notice to proceed for its first company-owned project, a 4-megawatt community solar farm in upstate New York.
Construction of the ground-mount project is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2023. Once construction is completed, the start of generation will be contingent upon testing of the interconnection and final approval from the regional utility.
“This is a major milestone for our vertically-integrated solar strategy, and we’re delighted to receive the NTP for our first company-owned community solar farm,” Michael Stein, CEO of Genie Energy, said. “The environmental benefit and the economics driving the development of community solar are compelling for the customers and the generators, and we expect to expand from this initial project to additional sites in the coming months.”
Genie Solar has also completed a Coordinated Electric System Interconnection Review for a second company-owned community solar project in upstate New York and expects to achieve the NTP in early 2023. This 6-megawatt community solar project is also slated for construction in 2023.
Stein added: “Community solar plays to Genie’s strengths as an integrated solar provider. In our first two projects, we not only obtained control of the sites and are overseeing permitting, we are also financing and managing the construction of the projects. We’ll utilize our own designed and manufactured solar panels and our retail arm will identify, enroll and manage the projects’ customers.
“This vertically-integrated approach enables us to capture significantly more of each project’s realizable economics while delivering a superior value to our customers.”
