Earth Moving in a Hurry at Solar Field

The construction of the first solar energy-producing field in East Providence is underway -- and quickly. 

Cherenzia Excavation earth movers, trucks and bulldozers were moving dirt across the former Riverside landfall off Forbes Street Thursday morning, July 25, at a quick pace. They started work on Monday.

The land has to be tilted at a certain grade for the installation of the first 13,000 solar panels to generate power from the sun, according to workers at the site. 

East Providence public works employees previously cut down hundreds of trees and capped the landfill.

CME Energy, the developer, has a contract with National Grid to produce power from the 3.7 megawatt project, which will spread 13,000 panels over about 30 acres of the 220-acre site. The contract calls for a startup in the fall.

CME is leasing the land from the city for $75,000 a year. 

The longer-term plan is to create a 9 megawatt facility, according to East Providence Planning Director Jeanne Boyle.

“It’s one of only a handful of projects selected by National Grid to generate power for the utility,” she said. “It’s the first in Rhode Island moving toward construction.” 

The project took birth in October, 2010, after the planning department selected CME Energy’s proposal from seven it received following the distribution of a request for proposals.