Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure’s plans for a 2- or 3- or 5-MW solar project on 15—or 20 acres—at Sharon Hill and Argusville Road is “more of an idea at this point,” Senior Project Developer Adam Rowles told the Joint Planning Board Wednesday.
But even as Mr. Rowles said he hopes to avoid the “animosity” created by the 50MW NextEra project nearly next door, without adequate access to the land-locked site and the necessary acreage, “We’d have to bulldoze some trees. It wouldn’t be a good-looking project at all,” he said.
Mr. Rowles also told the JPB that if zoning restrictions force GSI to go with a smaller project, a less reputable company could come in to take the last remaining 2.5MW of available National Grid space.
The GSI project surfaced in June as a 5MWproposal on about 15-20 acres of leased and purchased land at Route 20 and Argusvlle Road.
Zoning doesn’t permit solar there and the proposed project doesn’t meet the minimum acreage requirement of 15 acres “for producing electricity on land not farmed,” concerns Mr. Rowles said he’s already working to resolve, understanding GSI would likely need a variance.
“At this point, it’s still an idea,” he said, with a “land control agreement” with Joe Falsarella, who owns the land off Route 20, “and some scattered conversations with neighbors.”
Mr. Rowles said he didn’t want to name those neighbors “because they’re not part of the project yet,” but said they’ve shown some interest in selling some or all of the land GSI would need.
Just as importantly, he said GSI has an inner-connection agreement with National Grid, “that would allow us to build our project.”
Again, unlike NextEra, Mr. Rowles also promised a “strong tax deal and a responsible project with a minimal impact on the community.”
GSI has already paid the Town of Sharon $50,000, a required escrow to help fund any needed engineering or legal studies, a rate based on $10,000 per megawatt, under the assumption that it would be a 5MW project, which would require 20 acres.
“That doesn’t mean we expect to get that [approval] at the end of the day,” Mr. Rowles said.
A 2MW project would require 12 acres.
“That puts us in an interesting situation,” he said, with less acreage impacting the look of the project—especially to neighbors.
“There are some compromises I will need from the ZBA in order to develop the project I want,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, it is just an idea.”
Any project, said JPB chair Ray Parsons, would have to conform to the town’s solar law.
In an email after the meeting, Mr. Rowles said even a smaller project could be profitable.
“It largely boils down to whether the project can pay off its construction and operational costs over the lifetime of the project,” he said.
“…we’re in a position for our project to be profitable for us, even if it is sized as 2MW. Because we’re a much, much smaller company than NextEra, we also have a lower threshold for what we consider to be a profitable project.”
Mr. Rowles said he also sees that project as a chance to “work with some local farmers…to integrate agriculture…which has more value to us than simply dollars and cents.”