As of Aug. 1, according to an announcement from East Hampton Town, New York State officially reached a milestone of three gigawatts of solar electricity, half of its goal to achieve six gigawatts by 2025.
The Accabonac Road solar facility in East Hampton has been an important part of the state's renewable-energy success. Lauren Steinberg, a senior environmental analyst at the town's Natural Resources Department, said in a recent interview that while the local facility is not the largest energy contributor in the state, it is a driving force, because it sends an encouraging message to other municipalities that they too can undertake solar projects. She called Accabonac a "good demonstration of a successful project."
The Accabonac Solar Farm, which was constructed by AES Distributed Energy on a town-owned site, is the first megawatt-scale solar farm on the South Fork. Out of the 1.6 million kilowatt hours it can theoretically provide every year, said Christopher Thomas, a lead project engineer from AES Distributed Energy, it is actually producing 1,407 megawatt hours, or about 1.4 million kilowatt hours. Mr. Thomas noted in a phone interview that "we have been pretty darn close to meeting the [expected] returns."
The solar farm ties into local distribution lines that run along Accabonac Road. Houses and businesses closest to the site get powered first, Mr. Thomas said, adding, though, that "all of the homes and businesses around can get powered."
The town leases the site to AES Distributed Energy. The Long Island Power Authority has a 20-year agreement to buy the energy from AES. All of the energy that the solar farm produces is clean and reliable, which helps reduce carbon emissions.
Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, said the solar farm has been very effective in reducing emissions because it is 100 percent renewable and requires no carbon to be burned. According to an AES report, this solar farm alone prevents carbon emissions equivalent to the burning of more than 1.2 million pounds of coal.
Not only has the Accabonac site been a factor in helping the state accomplish its goals, it has also been crucial in helping the town reach its own objectives. East Hampton established key climate-related goals back in 2014, Ms. Steinberg noted, including meeting all community-wide energy needs with renewable resources by 2030.
The Accabonac solar farm can power 136 houses every year, she said, which certainly helps, but, said Mr. Raacke, it is "only the beginning." The town will need a "diversified portfolio," he said, including more solar farms and windmills, to make a bigger impact both locally and statewide.
