Orange electric utility United Illuminating and the city of Bridgeport are proposing a 50-acre, five-megawatt renewable energy park on the city’s former landfill site.
Based on UI’s preliminary analysis, the park can accommodate 2.2 megawatts of solar electric fields and 2.8 megawatts of fuel cells.
Bridgeport already will be home to the largest fuel cell park in the Western Hemisphere, a 14.9 megawatt facility partnering Danbury manufacturer FuelCell Energy with power generator Dominion and utility Connecticut Light & Power.
The five megawatt solar-fuel cell project is part of Connecticut’s efforts to increase renewable energy in the state by allowing the utilities to own and operate up to 10 megawatts of renewable facilities.
This Bridgeport proposal is UI’s first foray into this effort since the law was enacted in 2011.