Ameresco, the City of Newburyport, Canadian Solar and Munro
Distributing attend ceremony to recognize 502 kW solar project at Rupert
Nock Middle School
Dec. 13, 2010 (Business Wire) -- Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, held a ceremony today at the Rupert Nock Middle School in Newburyport, MA to recognize the City of Newburyport Solar project and present a donation to the City. The project, one of the largest early municipal solar photovoltaic installations in the Commonwealth, produces 502 kW of clean, renewable electricity.
As part of its 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the City, Ameresco designed, financed and installed the 2,000 panel rooftop solar project, which was installed on three municipal buildings including the Rupert Nock Middle School, the Edward G. Molin Upper Elementary School and the Department of Public Works Building (DPW). The projects went online in September 2009 and have generated enough clean energy to offset 402 tons of carbon dioxide annually, which is the equivalent of planting more than 8,000 trees. In addition, to provide Newburyport's children with a learning experience, Ameresco installed a lobby LCD panel in the Middle School and a special software package that makes rooftop weather and solar PV production data available online for the science classrooms.
"This project has been a win-win for Newburyport," said Mayor Donna Holaday. "Not only are we using clean renewable energy but are also modeling innovation and responsible energy usage for our students, teaching staff and the community at large. It is a demonstration of our commitment to the future which is also vital to our economy, history and heritage."
Recently, the Ameresco project was nominated for and received an award as part of the "Win with Canadian Solar" contest, available to companies that have completed installations that use Canadian Solar's modules. As part of the prize, Ameresco was awarded $500 from Canadian Solar for its work at the Nock Middle School, which Ameresco will donate to the City of Newburyport. Additionally, Ameresco and Munro Solar, a subcontracting partner on the project, will each donate an additional $500, bringing the total donation to $1,500.
"We are pleased to have played a pivotal role in making Newburyport more sustainable," said Jim Walker, Director of Solar PV Grid Projects at Ameresco. "We thank Canadian Solar for recognizing the importance of this project and are delighted to be able to donate it to our partners on the project at the City."
"We are pleased to recognize Ameresco, a company committed to their customers' satisfaction, for their design and installation of this PV project featuring Canadian Solar modules," said Alan King, vice president of sales for the U.S. division of Canadian Solar, Inc.