New Jersey Resources (NJR) is ready to flip the switch on its solar array at the Norfolk transfer station. The company will test the substantial array next week.
“They have to do a release to make sure it meets all the standards for the building inspector and fire marshal,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. “Then the utility can do the final hook up. They hope that will happen in the next two weeks.”
The multi-year project began when Riiska established the Norfolk Energy Advisory Committee (NEAC) in 2018. Lodestar of Avon won the competitive bid for the project, and it was approved at town meeting in 2022. The project has since been sold to NJR.
The 13-acre solar array has been under construction since February by CTEC Solar, a Bloomfield-based company. During much of that time, the town received $1,750 a month for the lease of the land, but on July 1 that increased to $42,000 a year. That sum increases annually by 1.5 percent.
An interconnect agreement was reached with Eversource so the energy produced can be sent to the grid. All application fees, legal contracts and installation costs have been absorbed by Lodestar and NJR. NJR will maintain the array and the area around it.
The project comes with significant environmental benefits and is expected to offset carbon emissions by 4,249 metric tons annually.