State: Solar project serving Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Buren is complete

 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.

Anheuser-Busch 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,” per the news release.

“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 the 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 event and and announced the project’s completion.

The project complements “Central New York Rising,” the region’s comprehensive strategy to generate robust economic growth and community development, and supports 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.

These investments have supported nearly 12,000 people working in solar jobs across state, per the news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com