Powering Progress: Rhode Island’s Largest Landfill Solar Project Now Operational

BETA Group, Inc. (BETA) was pleased to join NuGen Capital Management, LLC, Toray Plastics (America), Inc., Town of Bristol leaders, and other partners at the Bristol Landfill Solar Project ribbon-cutting on July 25, 2024. Now Rhode Island’s largest closed landfill solar site, the Bristol Landfill Solar Project will generate enough energy to power over 700 homes.

The Town of Bristol granted developer NuGen, which specializes in developing large solar arrays on land that is not suitable for other purposes, permission to construct a Photovoltaic System on the Town’s closed landfill. The landfill is situated on a 91.54-acre parcel owned by the Town.

For the past 25 years, BETA has served as the Town’s environmental consultant for landfill-related services, including multiple phases of cap design and compliance monitoring. At the Town’s request, NuGen retained BETA to conduct an engineering and feasibility analysis for the construction of a solar array on the landfill. In addition, BETA prepared and filed permitting documents for the project with RIDEM’s Office of Land Revitalization and Sustainable Materials Management (Solid Waste Section) and the Office of Water Resources (Stormwater Section).

The project, now fully constructed, produces 6.875-MWdc from over 20,000 panels. Toray will purchase 100 percent of the energy generated, which will help the company fulfill its emission reduction goals while also moving Rhode Island one step closer towards the state objective of achieving 100 percent renewable electricity by 2033.