VAN BUREN — A nearly $5 million solar project in the town of Van Buren is now providing energy for the nearby Anheuser-Busch brewery. Located six miles from the company’s brewery in the town of Lysander, the 2.76 megawatt array will produce more than 3 million kilowatt-hours annually. It is the equivalent of providing enough […]
VAN BUREN — A nearly $5 million solar project in the town of Van Buren is now providing energy for the nearby Anheuser-Busch brewery.
Located six miles from the company’s brewery in the town of Lysander, the 2.76 megawatt array will produce more than 3 million kilowatt-hours annually.
It is the equivalent of providing enough energy to brew 3 million cases of beverages annually, according to the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), through the NY-Sun program, provided over $1.1 million in support for the array. It includes more than 8,300 solar panels, making it Anheuser-Busch’s largest off-site installation to date in the U.S., Cuomo’s office said.
The solar array is owned and operated by Boulder, Colorado–based AES Distributed Energy, Inc. and was developed to support Anheuser-Busch’s goal to purchase 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
AES has also worked on solar projects for St. Lawrence University in Canton and for the City of Rochester, per the firm’s website.
Anheuser-Busch says it already secures 50 percent of its purchased electricity from wind power, “which is more than the amount of electricity required to brew Budweiser beer in the U.S. each year.”
“This significant solar project by Anheuser-Busch and AES Distributed Energy will use renewable energy sources and help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions,” Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release. “The investment, as part of NY-Sun, continues our efforts to attract and spur cutting-edge projects that save consumers money and advances New York’s nation-leading clean energy goals. The solar facility helps to protect the environment, creating job opportunities and growing the economy of Central New York.”
Hochul attended the May 15 event in Van Buren to announce the project’s completion and cut the ribbon.
The project complements “Central New York Rising,” the region’s strategy to generate economic growth and community development, per the release. It’s also part of Cuomo’s “Green New Deal,” which calls for 70 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 and 6,000 megawatts of solar by 2025.
NY-Sun is Cuomo’s $1 billion initiative to advance the scale-up of solar and move the state closer to having a “sustainable, self-sufficient” solar industry. Since 2011, “solar in New York has increased more than 1,500 percent and leveraged nearly $3.5 billion in private investments,” Cuomo’s office said. These investments have supported nearly 12,000 people working in solar jobs across state.