The Pennsylvania Turnpike is making its first major venture into solar power to improve sustainability, provide electricity for its operations and create revenue by selling excess power back to the electricity grid.
The agency is advertising for proposals from developers to install solar fields at 15 sites where the agency has excess land, all but one of the sites in Western Pennsylvania. The plan is for the turnpike to buy all the electricity from the sites for 20 years, then either replace the equipment to continue producing electricity or restore the land to its previous state.
Known as the Solar Right-of-Way Project, the solar facilities are part of the turnpike’s commitment to being good environmental neighbors. The agency has a goal of becoming the first sustainable superhighway in the country.
“We’re going to buy all of the electricity,” said Keith Jack, director of facilities operations for the turnpike and chair of its sustainability committee. “Then it’s our responsibility to sell it back to the grid after we take what we need.”
Once proposals are received, the agency will review them, begin discussions with the most interesting ideas and pick a developer early next year. Then it will negotiate with the developer for the price it will pay for the electricity and with the utility companies for the price they will pay the turnpike to buy it.
“It’s kind of a challenge for the developer to produce it at a low enough cost,” Jack said. “If they price it right, they should be able to sell it and make a profit.”
Jack said the developer likely will try to build as many of the sites as possible at the same time. He expects them to begin delivering power 18 months to two years after the turnpike commission approves the deal.
The sites chosen for the project, which must be within 2 miles of turnpike property, range from 49.8 acres in Findlay to 108.4 acres in California, Washington County. Jack said the expectation is that solar fields will use only about 10 acres at each site and in many instances they won’t be visible from the highway.
The agency has several possible backup sites if developers say any of the proposed locations isn’t acceptable.
The turnpike, which dates back to the 1940s, accumulated land over the years from projects that either were abandoned or shrunk in size after the agency had purchased property. For this project, a number of sites are along the early portion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway in Fayette and Washington counties.
The turnpike worked with nonprofit consultant The Ray, based in Georgia, to identify potential sites for solar fields. It determined the agency has about 7,900 acres that could be used for solar development.
This project is a follow-up to the agency’s initial ventures into solar power.
Two years ago, it installed a microgrid on a hillside near Jeannette with 3,300 solar panels to produce power for its new regional maintenance shop for skilled tradesmen along Turnpike Route 66 near Jeannette and is putting the finishing touches on a similar facility at its regional headquarters in New Stanton.
Those sites have a natural gas system as a backup in case the solar system falls short of the electricity they need. The Jeannette facility has been selling about $100,000 worth of electricity to West Penn Power each month.
Jack said the agency won’t have a good idea how much money it might make from the project until it finishes negotiating with the developer.
“It’s still in the early stages,” he said. “We’re anxious to see what the market is like in that industry.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.