Greenbacker, Community Energy complete 10-MW Colorado community solar portfolio

Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company announced that construction has been completed on a 10 MW_DC portfolio made up of five community solar gardens in southern Colorado.

The solar projects were purchased in 2019 from Community Energy, which also stayed on to handle the engineering, procurement and construction throughout the building process. Along with a built-in EPC provider, the portfolio also came with long-term subscription agreements with strong investment-grade offtakes, under Xcel Energy’s Solar*Rewards Community program.

The five community solar gardens (Alden, Monte Vista 2, Rock Creek 2, Platteville and Alamosa Solar South) are located in rural areas of the state and service a wide range of subscribers. This includes a population of income-qualified households, who receive donated solar credits through the project, lowering their electric bills each month.

GREC also provides the opportunity for the portfolio’s commercial subscribers — all of which are school districts, nonprofits and municipalities—to save on their power bills, without having to install their own rooftop arrays. These commercial subscribers receive solar credits for the energy generated by their share of the solar project, offering them a simpler way to utilize and support clean power.

“We’re glad to have begun our relationship with CE on a project that helps highlight the need for, and benefits of, local solar gardens, while also bringing value to our investors,” said Charles Wheeler, CEO of Greenbacker. “And we look forward to working together again in the future.”

“Community Energy has been developing community solar gardens in Colorado since 2013, and is pleased to have worked with the Greenbacker team on our largest portfolio of solar gardens in the state,” said Ben Griffin, director of EPC and asset management for Community Energy. “These projects will provide very real economic and environmental benefits to the wide range of subscriber customers and communities that are participating.”

News item from Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company

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Original Source: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2021/03/greenbacker-community-energy-solar-colorado/