NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (“GREC” or “Greenbacker”), a leading climate-focused investment manager and independent power producer, has, through a wholly owned subsidiary, a portfolio of up to nine Norwich Solar pre-operational solar projects (” Norwich”). Upon completion of the projects, electricity bills for local farmers will be reduced and new life will be breathed into brownfield sites that are excluded from most uses.
The projects have long-term net metering agreements with over 30 agricultural buyers – local farms and dairies across the state. The net-metering aspect of the portfolio means that the utility reduces customers’ electricity bills by the amount of clean energy the projects feed into the grid. Each solar project is expected to save local farmers, on average, about $500,000 in energy costs over the life cycle of the project.
In addition to helping farmers save on electricity costs, Norwich expects the portfolio to generate approximately $7.5 million in local wages during construction and provide local landowners with additional long-term income through land lease payments. In addition, Greenbacker is also actively evaluating the portfolio’s potential for agrivoltaics (ie utilizing project sites for both solar power generation and agricultural activities).
The portfolio represents Greenbacker’s first transaction with Norwich, a developer, designer and provider of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of clean energy projects throughout New England. Norwich will continue to provide EPC services to the portfolio.
In addition to the clean energy and economic benefits these solar projects offer, three project sites will also convert former brownfield sites into sources of cheaper renewable electricity. The Andover project is on part of a disused gravel pit that is no longer in operation and the Thetford Post Mills and Putney Green Acres projects are on a…
