The PPAs, with BP Solar International and enXco Development, will create New York's largest solar power source. The solar energy purchased by LIPA will be generated on Long Island, LIPA officials say.
BP Solar's installation, at Brookhaven National Laboratory, will generate 32 megawatts of electricity and cost LIPA $298 million over the 20-year term of the agreement. The other power system, built and operated by enXco, will cost $125 million over 20 years; its solar panels will be installed on parking lots and railroad stations owned by Suffolk County.
LIPA's PPAs will cost customers 0.83 cents per month on average, the authority says.
The project "is expected to create hundreds of jobs and triple Long Island's solar energy production," noted BP Solar CEO Reyad Fezzani. Mike Holland, DOE office manager at Brookhaven National Laboratory, added that solar power provides "a domestic source of clean energy that … offsets greenhouse gas emissions."
The solar energy installations will offset 45,300 tons of carbon emissions each year, LIPA says.
