The Bloomberg Administration is seeking proposals to outfit the former Staten Island Fresh Kills Landfill as a solar panel plant or as a windfarm.
The city announced Monday that it is seeking a private operator to wrap 75 of the 2,200 acres of the closed Fresh Kills landfill with solar and wind power installations capable of powering 6,000 homes.
The plan was unveiled last April as part of several new ideas to the Mayor’s PlaNYC, the broad environmental strategy he outlined in 2007.
As proposed such a development would double the city's renewable energy output to 20 Megawatts and would find further use for the space occupied by what was once the largest (and controversial) landfill in the world, closed since 2001.
The Bloomberg administration’s plan, revealed Tuesday during a Crain's New York Business breakfast in Manhattan, would cover up to 75 acres of capped landfill with the latest in renewable energy technology.
Officials believe the installation could meet energy demand for 6,000 homes, effectively doubling the city's renewable power capacity. But 20 megawatts is a tiny amount compared with peak summer electricity demand in New York City, which topped 13,000 megawatts last year.
While this may seem like a drop in the bucket, it would be a start says Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro
“I’m delighted because I had given up on it almost,” he said. “We did a study, going back six or seven years ago, to see if there was any economic benefit of doing it.”
This is a great bit of news in what is normally
depressing news from Mayor
Bloomberg.