DOE OSTI2013
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in accordance with the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, selected the Vincent Mullins Landfill in Tucson, Arizona, for a feasibility study of renewable energy production. Under the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, the EPA provided funding to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to support the study. NREL provided technical assistance for this project but did not assess environmental conditions at the site beyond those related to the performance of a photovoltaic (PV) system. The purpose of this report is to assess the site for a possible PV installation and estimate the cost and performance of different PV configurations, as well as to recommend financing options that could assist in the implementation of a PV system. In addition to the Vincent Mullins site, four similar landfills in Tucson are included as part of this study. The feasibility of a PV system depends greatly on both site-specific and economic factors. Site specific factors include the available area for an array, solar resource, distance to transmission lines, and distance to major roads. In addition, the operating status, ground conditions, and restrictions associated with redevelopment of contaminated sites impact the feasibility of a PV system. Economic factors include purchase price of the electricity produced, power purchase agreement (PPA) price, and retail electric rates along with federal, state, and utility incentives for PV systems. Based on an assessment of these factors, the Vincent Mullins Landfill and other closed landfills in Tucson were found to be suitable sites for deployment of utility-scale PV systems. This study evaluated two development scenarios for implementing large-scale PV systems on Tucson’s landfills—one in which the city owns and operates the system, and one where a private entity is allowed to develop the site using a PPA. Table ES-1 summarizes the predicted economics of the two scenarios along with the system size, energy production, and cost.