We are very pleased to join forces with one of the most experienced municipal solar project developers in Massachusetts. BlueWaves experience developing similar projects in several Massachusetts cities and towns and their commitment to serve as a true partner will the Town will hold us in very good stead as the project advances, said Shaun Suhoski, Sturbridge Town Administrator. These are challenging times for municipal budget makers in Massachusetts; this project will provide meaningful savings to the Town at a critical time. These are challenging times for solar energy development in the Commonwealth as well. We are fortunate to have a developer who understands those challenges and knows how to address them.
BlueWave will work with Sturbridge to develop 2.75 MW of solar capacity targeting the Towns landfill and other Sturbridge properties for most, if not all, of the production. When completed the project is expected to off-set nearly all of the Town governments electricity use and achieve cost savings of $7-10M over the 20 year life of the contract. The project will also reduce Sturbridges carbon emissions by over 15,000 tons annually, the equivalent of permanently removing 8,000 cars from the road.
We are proud to have been chosen to help Sturbridge realize the full measure of the financial and environmental benefits of renewable energy, said John DeVillars, BlueWave Capitals Managing Partner. This is a terrific opportunity for the Town and we are grateful for the chance to work with members of the Towns Energy Advisory Committee, Administrator Suhoski and other community leaders to turn this opportunity into real savings for Sturbridge taxpayers.
The Town received more than a dozen inquiries and seven formal proposals from solar energy development companies in response to an RFQ issued last fall. The Town Administrator and the Towns Energy Advisory Committee reviewed the applications, interviewed a number of finalists and made their recommendation to the Board of Selectmen earlier this month.
