Leading clean energy company Invenergy LLC (“Invenergy”) on Friday held a ground breaking ceremony at its Shoreham Solar Commons facility, located in the town of Brookhaven in Long Island, New York.
The 24.9 MW Shoreham Solar Commons facility will be the second largest solar installation in the state of New York.
Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment and Vision Long Island expressed their support for this project and Invenergy’s commitment to the community and the environment. The company is redeveloping the former Tallgrass Golf Course into what will become Shoreham Solar Commons. The redevelopment won’t require any clearing of trees and Invenergy will be planting an additional 2,000+ trees on the project’s site. Unlike the former golf course, the solar array will not require the application of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, which will directly benefit Long Island’s freshwater aquifer. The estimated energy generation from this facility will displace 29,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and create nearly 1 million megawatt-hours of clean, renewable, local energy over its lifetime.
During peak construction, Shoreham Solar Commons will employ 175 workers and tradesmen. Over the life of the facility, Shoreham Solar Commons will pay $15 million in additional tax revenue, which is ten times what the former golf course generated.
Invenergy currently has more than 220 MW of operating wind projects in the state of New York, with another 1,165 MW of wind and solar projects in development across the state, including Shoreham. In October the company announced a proposal for Long Island’s largest renewable energy project, the Clean Energy Link, designed to deliver renewable, reliable and affordable energy to the residents of Long Island.
