By Ben Murphy
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
A California-based energy company will install solar panels in Baltimore County over the next two years to convert more than a third of the county government’s electricity needs from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources, County Executive Johnny Olszewski said today.
Under the agreement with SunPower Corp., the panels will be placed at the landfill sites in Woodstock and Parkton. The project represents the county’s first large-scale solar energy project in its history, Olszewski said.
When the panels are functional in 2023 they are expected to generate the equivalent of 35% of the electricity used at county buildings and facilities, Olszewski said.
“We’re thankful for this public-private partnership that will transform these sites into productive alternative energy sources, helping to reduce Baltimore County’s carbon footprint,” Olszewski said during a press conference at the Towson Court House on Washington Avenue.
Olszewski said the county will pay nothing up front, adding that SunPower will cover the costs of the arrays.
Baltimore Gas & Electric will credit the solar energy generated at the landfills against electric loads at other county buildings. The county will then pay a flat, fixed rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh) over the next 25 years, which is expected to save the county millions of dollars in electrical fees.
The 43-million kWh generated every year by this project will separate the same amount of carbon dioxide as nearly 40,000 acres of US forests, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greenhouse gas calculator, Olszewski said.
Construction is expected to begin in 2022, with the solar panels being fully functional by 2023.
Olszewski also signed an executive order Wednesday setting “an aggressive, yet achievable goal” to generate the equivalent of 100 percent of the county electrical demand from renewable sources by 2026 and 125 percent by 2030.
“This next step represents a bold leap forward to transform Baltimore County into a statewide leader of renewable energy,” Olszewski said.