Skip to content

Project Profile: Amesbury Landfill Solar Plus Storage Project, Amesbury, Massachusetts

Solar farm.

A 4.5 MWdc solar project installed with a 3.8 MWh lithium-ion storage solution on a landfill cap site located in Amesbury, Massachusetts.

Source: Credit to CS Energy

Project Name

Amesbury Landfill Solar Plus Storage Project

Location

Amesbury, Massachusetts

Project Sponsor / Borrower

City of Amesbury and Kearsarge Energy (partnership)

Program Areas

Public-Private PartnershipsProject FinanceValue Capture

Value Capture Techniques

Asset Recycling, Solar Energy Use, ROW Use Agreements

Mode

Other: Solar Farm

Description

Amesbury, Massachusetts is home to the largest solar plus storage system to-date. The 4.5 megawatts of direct current (MWdc) solar project was installed with a 3.8-megawatt hour (MWh) lithium-ion storage solution on the former Titcomb landfill cap site. This was one of the first solar plus energy storage projects to participate in the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program and is expected to produce 5,600 MWh. The power plant was developed, financed, and built by Kearsarge Energy LP, in partnership with NEC Energy Solutions for the energy storage component. Spanning across a 16-acre area, the system is designed with 11,376 solar panels, 50 ‘60 kW’ inverters, and a ballasted RBI ground-mount. Features include a battery energy storage system to optimize energy distribution to the utility grid.

The project will produce 5.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, powering about 440 homes and preventing 4,000 tons of CO2 from releasing each year. That’s equivalent to taking 870 cars off the road.

Kearsarge will own and operate the system and will use it to provide energy capacity services for the New England ISO market, the first in Kearsarge’s 250-MW pipeline to incorporate energy storage. This consistent revenue source takes up little space and allows the project to provide services for the grid that wholesale electricity markets need and will pay for beyond the value of the electricity itself.  The City of Amesbury, direct benefits to the City include generation of tax and lease revenue and energy credits that will reduce municipal spending on electricity worth almost $4.0 million over 20 years

Amesbury is among 40+ public organizations in New England and New York to partner with Kearsarge on renewable energy development initiatives.
Cost

Owned and developed by Kearsarge Energy of Boston, in partnership with the City of Amesbury and constructed by CS Energy

Funding Sources City of Amesbury - payment in lieu of taxes agreement
Project Delivery / Contract Method

Owned and developed by Kearsarge Energy of Boston, in partnership with the City of Amesbury and constructed by CS Energy

Private Partner

Kearsarge Energy

Project Advisors / Consultants
  • Kearsarge Energy (Developer, Owner and Operator)
  • CS Energy, LLC (Electrical Contractor)
  • Tighe and Bond, Westfield, Massachusetts (Permitting Support)
Lenders

City of Amesbury

Duration / Status

The project went online in December 2019

Financial Status / Financial Performance

The City of Amesbury is expected to save around $4 million in municipal spending on energy over 20 years, panning out at $200,000 or so every year, via a combination of energy credits, lease revenue and tax generated by the site’s operations

Innovations
  • Leveraged underutilized municipal land and turned the landfill into a renewable energy produce. Using land that is virtually unusable for any other use to build a clean, renewable energy source.
  • Save $3.6M over 20 years from new tax and lease revenues plus energy savings.
  • Storage component adds another revenue stream.
  • Use of Battery Energy Storage System to optimize energy distribution to the utility grid.
  • Boost in local construction/maintenance employment, generation of tax and lease revenue and energy credits for the City that will reduce municipal spending on electricity.
  • Partnership between the City of Amesbury and Kearsarge Energy, a New England-based renewable energy developer and financier. CS Energy, LLC constructed the project.
Related Links / Articles
Contacts

Thomas Barrasso
Director, Amesbury Energy & Environmental Affairs
(978) 388-8110 x314
barrassot@amesburyma.gov

Ariel view of solar farm.
Kearsarge’s first solar plus storage facility to participate in the Massachusetts SMART Solar Program, the facility uses a state-of-the-art 1,600 kW battery storage system engineered by Massachusetts-headquartered NEC Energy Solutions. (Credit: Kearsarge Energy)
back to top