Greenbacker acquires solar project set to power Middlebury College

The 6.5MW South Street solar project, has a power purchase agreement in place with Middlebury College, and will meet 30% of the College’s annual electricity demand.

January 28, 2022 Tim Sylvia

The groundbreaking ceremony for Middlebury College's new solar installation.

Image: Middlebury College, photo by Balfour Studios

Greenbacker Renewable Energy said that it has, through a subsidiary, purchased a 6.5MW to-be-constructed solar project from Encore Renewable Energy, set to be built in Middlebury, Vermont.

The project, called South Street solar, has a power purchase agreement in place with nearby Middlebury College, with the college contracting for 100% of the electricity generated by the installation. According to Greenbacker, Green Mountain Power, the project’s offtaker, plans to add onsite energy storage to the installation, though the capacity of that planned addition has not yet been shared.

South Street is expected to meet 30% of Middlebury College’s annual energy demand, part of the school’s plan to is run on 100% renewable energy by 2028, while the state of Vermont has a goal of obtaining 90% of its power from renewable energy by 2050. Middlebury has been carbon neutral since 2016.

Alongside the solar and storage, there are plans to plant the land amid the solar arrays with pasture mix for local livestock to graze and pollinator-friendly vegetation that supports native bee and butterfly populations.

South Street is the largest project that Greenbacker has acquired in Vermont. The project broke ground with a ceremony in October 2021 and is expected to reach commercial operation in the second half of 2022.

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