Vineland Solar One was made possible thanks to a unique public-private partnership formed by the city of Vineland Municipal Electric Utility (VMEU), Conectiv Energy and the Landis Sewerage Authority. Through the agreement, Conectiv Energy agreed to construct the 4 MW solar facility on a reclaimed brownfield leased from Landis Sewerage Authority. VMEU buys back the electricity generated from the facility at discounted rate saving customers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Calpine Corporation purchased Vineland from Conectiv in 2010.
"This project accelerates the reality of a greener future for the residents of the City of Vineland and the customers of Vineland Electric," said Vineland Mayor Robert Romano. "The partnership is a platform to look at similar opportunities in the future."
"We are pleased to be a part of a forward-looking and fiscally responsible partnership," said Jack Fusco, Calpine President & CEO. "Calpine is commited to environmentally responsible power production as evidenced by our 20-plus-year history of operating the largest baseload renewable geothermal resource at The Geysers in Northern California and now with our solar energy center at Vineland."
What are SRECs?
SREC stands for Solar Renewable Energy Certificate and is a tradable certificate that represents all the clean energy benefits of electricity generated from a solar electric system. Each time a solar electric system generates 1,000 kWh (1 MWh) of electricity, an SREC is issued which can then be sold or traded separately from the power. This makes it easy for individuals and businesses to finance and invest in clean, emission-free solar power.
Source: New Jersey Clean Energy Program
