RICHMOND — The city and Marin Clean Energy hosted a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday for a new, 10.5-megawatt solar farm built on a brownfield that was the site of a former landfill. The Solar One project has been dubbed the Bay Area’s largest public-private solar partnership. The solar farm is expected to generate enough electricity to power 3,900 MCE customers and will replace 3,234 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. “MCE’s 10.5-megawatt solar project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 680 cars off the road annually,” Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said. “California is leading the nation in addressing climate change, and this project demonstrates how local projects can achieve environmental justice objectives and support our state’s goal of 100-percent renewable energy by 2045.” The project supported 341 jobs, of which 50 percent or more were local hires. Some of the installation of the more than 35,000 panels was done by workers in RichmondBUILD, another public-private partnership that helps low-income people prepare for jobs in the construction and renewable energy sectors. MCE, which purchases power on behalf of customers, launched service to 200,000 customers in eight Contra Costa cities and unincorporated Contra Costa County this month, bringing its total customers to 450,000. MCE will own the project after seven years of operation. The project was identified as an opportunity to be included in the Chevron Modernization Project, a $1 billion upgrade that includes new piping systems and a more efficient hydrogen plant that can process oil that has more sulfur. Chevron, which is Richmond’s largest employer, leased the landfill site to MCE for $1 per year. The solar array is another step in the city of Richmond’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below that number by 2050, according to the city’s climate action plan. In 2008, the city analyzed local and county-wide emissions from 2005 and found that of the nearly 2.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide the city emitted each year, approximately 88 percent came from commercial and industrial sectors. The county emitted 12.3 million metric tons, with nearly half coming from commercial and industrial and 37-percent coming from transportation. In January, Richmond joined a number of cities and counties that have filed lawsuits against the oil industry alleging that rising sea levels associated with climate change will force them to invest large sums to build or raise seawalls or establish coastal wetlands. Richmond has 32 miles of shoreline and 3,000 acres of waterfront parks.
A former Californian landfill site, leased to Marin Clean Energy (MCE) for a peppercorn rent by oil company Chevron , has been transformed into a 10 MW solar farm. The Solar One project, dubbed the Richmond Bay area's biggest public-private solar partnership, will provide electricity to 3,900 MCE customers and will replace nearly 2.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year . The scheme was part of Modernisation Project 's $1bn Modernisation Project and will also help Richmond achieve its 1990 target of reducing emissions to 80 percent below 2050 levels.