Sited on 50 acres adjacent to the bottling facility, the 13 MW ground-mounted solar array at the Poland Springs bottling plant in Hollis, Maine includes over 23,000 modules from Canadian Solar supported by OMCO fixed-tilt racking, C-channel foundations, and SMA Sunny Highpower PEAK3 inverters.
The project was a collaborative effort between Primo Brands, which owns Poland Springs, and PowerFlex, which designed and built the project. Onyx Renewables provided financing and a 25-year power purchase agreement with Primo. Northern Sun is the general contractor for PowerFlex.
One of the challenges, according to Northern Sun, was connecting to the facility’s existing electrical gear. To do so, the Northern Sun team had to intercept two parallel feeders both housed in a concrete duct bank. Using hydro-vac excavation, the team successfully exposed the duct bank in preparation for controlled demolition and reconnection work.
The solar project is expected to generate over 18 million kWh of clean electricity annually (avoiding over 7,500 metric tons of carbon emissions a year) and power about 20% of bottling operations at the Hollis facility, which runs 24 hours a day, 363 days a year. The electricity produced will be used on site, rather than exported.
“Projects like this represent the shift to a new power paradigm where businesses can take control of their energy future,” said Patty Rollin, chief commercial officer of Onyx Renewables. “By adopting onsite solar, Primo Brands gains cost predictability and reliable clean power.”
PowerFlex has developed over 500 MW of total solar capacity plus more than 50 MWh of battery energy storage. For the Poland Springs site, the company served as the development and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) partner on the project.
Onyx Renewables specializes in development, building, financing, owning and operating distributed clean energy solutions. The company provided project financing for the Poland Spring project and will serve as the long-term system owner and operator.
The Hollis facility is Primo Brands’ largest factory, and adding solar energy supports the company’s sustainability strategy. According to Charles Fogg, chief sustainability officer of Primo Brands, the project helps the company reduce greenhouse gas emissions and he said the investment in environmental projects also supports the local community.
Richard Morin, town manager, Hollis, Maine said the solar farm is a positive for a rural town such as Hollis.
“It’s a great partnership… serving both the town and its tax base because there’s a revenue stream… and also because it lessens the impact of cost of energy for the company.” Morin said.
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