By TIM
FAULKNER/ecoRI.org News staff
The Economic
Development Corporation (EDC) late last month approved grants for two new solar
energy projects. Teknor Apex of Pawtucket received two grants of $22,500 each
for two 30-kilowatt solar arrays at the company’s plastics manufacturing
facility at 90 Mendon Ave. Beaumont Solar of New Bedford, Mass., will design
and install both systems. Each costs $122,500.
A request for $18,504
for an 18-kilowatt solar array at Belcourt Castle in Newport was deferred until
the EDC’s November meeting. Two members of the board abstained from voting
because of a possible conflict of interest, thus delaying the vote.
Belcourt Castle is owned by Carolyn Rafaelian, founder of Alex and Ani jewelry. The mansion is being renovated as an environmentally friendly venue for events. The solar array, along with a new geothermal heating and cooling system, will help offset the mansion's electricity needs. Newport Renewables is the contractor for the project.
The grants are
financed through the EDC’s Renewable Energy Fund (REF). The REF is funded
through a charge on electric utility bills and payments made by power plants to
comply with renewable energy mandates.
The awards were the
second of three rounds of funding this year for the REF’s commercial
development program. Clem’s Electric in Bristol, National Security Corp. in
East Providence and the East Bay Met School in Newport were awarded grants
earlier this year for solar arrays.
Three renewable energy
projects have been funded through the REF’s program supporting feasibility
studies for larger projects. The grants include:
- $25,000 to the Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) to study the viability of a 2.6-megawatt solar array at its Bucklin Point wastewater treatment facility in East Providence. The funds help pay for a $40,000 study to install solar arrays on two inactive landfills owned by NBC.
- $38,750 for a 1-megawatt solar project in Burrillville. The money will help help East Avenue Solar LLC complete an application for an electricity purchasing contract with National Grid.
- $200,000 to JAL Hydro Inc. for a hydroelectric project at Natick Pond Dam in West Warwick. The 300-kilowatt system requires permitting, planning and interconnection activities for the hydroelectric system.
- The REF also awarded $500,368 for 89 small-scale solar projects this year.