Adirondack Park to host state’s first “Build-Ready” project
By Gwendolyn Craig
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority selected renewable energy developer CleanCapital to erect the state’s first “Build-Ready” solar facility on a former mine in the Adirondack Park.
The 12-megawatt project is expected to generate enough power for 3,000 homes annually. CleanCapital will build it on the former Benson Mines in St. Lawrence County.
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NYSERDA made the announcement Thursday, calling it “one of the largest solar projects in the Adirondack Park.” The Adirondack Park Agency has approved projects as large as 20 megawatts in the Champlain Valley, and the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting is in the process of permitting a 40-megawatt facility in the park along Great Sacandaga Lake.
NYSERDA had originally pitched the Benson Mines project as a 20-megawatt facility, but later found the interconnection to utility transmission lines could not handle that amount of power. It deemed upgrading that interconnection too time consuming and costly.
NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris called the selection of a developer “a significant achievement for NYSERDA’s Build-Ready program as we have now completed our first auction and are supporting the transformation of this underutilized site into something that is in fact, build-ready.”
The “Build-Ready” program involves NYSERDA evaluating underutilized sites, gathering the necessary permits and designing and figuring out the grid connections of a project. It then goes out to public auction to find a developer.
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The former iron-ore mine is a rare slice of industrially zoned land in the Adirondacks. Once owned by J&L Steel Corp., it was considered “the largest open pit magnetite mine in the world and employed up to 1,000 people,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Some of the mine became part of a federal superfund site, though the solar project is not proposed on that portion.
CleanCapital Chief Development Officer Paul Curran said the company is “thrilled to have the opportunity to build and operate the inaugural project in NYSERDA’s Build-Ready program,” adding that it “will be an outstanding example of the abundant opportunities for renewable energy development on brownfields here in New York State.”
The mine continues to sell aggregate and is also a timber company.
Patrick Kelly, CEO of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, said a payment in lieu of taxes agreement will yield $5,000 per megawatt for 20 years, increasing at 2% a year. CleanCapital will also provide the IDA with a $200,000 Host Community Benefit Fund. The fund’s goals, Kelly said, are to improve building facades, assist small businesses with renovations, support energy efficiency programs and other projects in the Clifton-Fine School District.
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Kelly described the solar project as a “positive outcome” considering there were no other development possibilities on the horizon for the site. Now it will generate some revenue for the region, contribute to the state’s renewable energy goals and provide a benefit fund to the community, he said. The project also leaves other parts of the property open to additional development opportunities.
The Adirondack Park Agency, which oversees public and private development in the 6-million-acre mix of public and private lands, permitted the project at 20 megawatts in 2022.
APA Executive Director Barbara Rice called it “an outstanding example of how to integrate large-scale solar projects into rural communities and protected landscapes.”
Top photo: A view of the project area as seen from the western side. The entrance into Benson Mines is in the distance center. Photo by Tom French
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