Feb 5 2010
Rivermoor Energy, a Newton-based solar development and investment firm specializing in commercial, government and utility projects, announces that construction will begin this month on the largest solar project in Boston. Developed and designed by the consortium of Rivermoor, Fischbach & Moore Electrical Group and Zapotec Energy, Inc., the 240-kilowatt project at Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) headquarters will connect to the NSTAR grid.
Awarded on January 29th, the complex project involves installing a 240-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on the BWSC rooftop on Harrison Avenue in Boston. Leveraging Massachusetts' Solar Renewable Energy Credits, construction and installation of the $1.075 million project will take approximately three months and will create over 15 clean energy jobs for Massachusetts. When complete, the new solar energy system should produce 268,000 kilowatt hours of power annually, about 7 percent of the Commission's current power usage, which is the equivalent of planting 1,000 trees a year.
"We are proud to bring together a best-in-class financial and utility-scale solution to the BWSC that maximizes government incentives and solar renewable energy credits," said John Tourtelotte, Managing Director of Rivermoor Energy, which established the consortium of firms that ultimately won the City contract. "Boston is taking a leadership role in the adoption of renewable energy technologies. We are very pleased to help advance jobs and green energy in Massachusetts."
"We look forward to delivering this differentiated, cost-effective and energy-efficient solar array for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, and we congratulate NSTAR and its technical staff for its assistance in planning the interconnection to the electrical grid," said Paul Lyons, President of Cambridge, MA-based Zapotec Energy, Inc., which designed the solar energy system.
"It has been such a pleasure working with all of the collaborative partners on this project and we are so excited to see another clean, renewable energy project plugging into the NSTAR system," said Tom May, Chairman, President and CEO of Boston-based NSTAR, the largest Massachusetts-based, investor-owned electric utility. "We applaud Mayor Menino's work to make Boston a truly green city. The BWSC solar installation is the perfect example of how renewable energy projects can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and benefit the local economy at the same time."