At least 29 large solar arrays have been built or approved on Connecticut’s closed, capped landfills, CT Mirror reported October 16, citing the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The figure is not a count of 29 operating facilities.
CT Mirror’s Sasha Allen and John Moritz reported that DEEP was reviewing applications for four other capped landfill sites. Eastern CT News has not independently obtained that statewide inventory.
One completed example is New Haven’s landfill array. In its original July 20 release, developer Greenskies Clean Energy said more than 1,900 panels had been installed and were expected to produce more than 1.4 million kilowatt-hours annually—an electricity-use equivalent of more than 200 homes. Those are the developer’s output projections, not a measured annual total.
New Haven’s Board of Alders approved a solar-lease order June 1. Its text identifies $72,000 in annual lease revenue for the landfill project’s first phase and describes a second phase as in development at that time. Greenskies’ July release described approximately $1.5 million in city revenue over a 20-year lease. The July completion is background, not a new October opening.
Landfill reuse has limits. CT Mirror reported that protecting the cap, finding enough suitable surface area and reaching existing electrical infrastructure affect a project’s feasibility. Its account says Connecticut has 294 closed landfills, not 294 ready-to-build solar sites.
The statewide trend is distinct from any particular town’s approval. A proposed array, an approved project and a completed installation represent different stages; the 29-project figure should not be used interchangeably with operating capacity.