Solar Plant to Go Up at Phila. Navy Yard
The same energy company partnership that is building one of the nation’s largest solar electric-generating stations in Bucks County plans to build a similar plant at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Peco parent company Exelon Corp. and its partner, Epuron, a subsidiary of the German energy company Conergy AG, will announce details of the plan at a noon news conference with Mayor Nutter and Kathleen A. McGinty, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Epuron’s Philadelphia-based regional director, John Conley, said in an interview this morning that the station would generate 1.0 to 1.4 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 200 households for a year.
Because of solar-power’s reliance on sunlight, Conley said, the station’s generating capacity is computed by a formula that takes into account typical weather patterns in the region.
Conley could not discuss the cost of the project, but an industry standard of $6 million to $7 million per megawatt would put the price tag as high as $11.9 million.
The $20 million Bucks plant, in Falls Township, will be able to provide energy for up to 400 homes under the same formula. Construction of that plant began in March and is expected to continue through late summer or early fall of this year, Conley said.
Exelon has agreed to buy electricity generated by the Navy Yard plant for 20 years. Epuron will design, build and manage the facility, which is to be sited on Girard Point, just north of the Aker Shipyard and south of the new headquarters being built for Tasty Baking Co.
Today’s announcement will also be a political statement. McGinty is expected to argue that passage by the legislature of Gov. Rendell’s energy plan would encourage more such projects in Pennsylvania.
"With Pennsylvania’s vast land resources there, there is big potential to do large-scale projects in the state," Conley said this morning.
Epuron, which has its U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, also plans to build a slightly smaller 700-kilowatt plant near the Meadowlands Sports Complex in northern New Jersey, Conley said.
Contact staff writer Tony Gnoffo at 215-854-2466 or tgnoffo@phillynews.com.
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