Njbpu Picks 16 Farm-Solar Projects Across Eight Counties
What happened
Where it happened
- Trenton, Mercer County.
New Jersey has picked 16 farm-based solar projects across eight counties, a move the state says can add electricity to the grid without taking those farms out of agricultural use.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted on August 17 to award 52.06 megawatts in the first solicitation of its Dual-Use Pilot Agrivoltaics program. The program, created under the 2021 Dual-Use Solar Energy Act, pairs solar generation with crops, grazing, or other active farm operations.
The decision matters in counties where both farmland and power supply are under pressure. NJBPU said the selected projects will operate on unpreserved farmland in Atlantic, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Salem, and Warren counties, with crops and livestock remaining part of the sites.
NJBPU said 33 preliminary proposals totaling about 140 megawatts were submitted. The 16 awards are the first group in a pilot that can support up to 200 megawatts over three years, and individual projects are generally limited to 10 megawatts.
What comes next is the buildout and evaluation of the pilot projects. NJBPU said lessons from the full pilot will help shape a permanent agrivoltaics program, while project teams must include a landowner, farmer, and solar operator and keep the farmland in active agricultural or horticultural use.
📸courtesy New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU)
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