Laserfiche WebLink
Executive Summary <br />The Environmental Quality Board (EQB) received Minnesota Legislature funding in 2019 to conduct a <br />study on the potential to deploy solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on the Minnesota Pollution Control <br />Agency's (M PCA) Closed Landfill Program (CLP) sites. There are currently 110 sites in the CLP; however, <br />there is insufficient information about the sites and their viability for PV development. In this study, Barr <br />Engineering Co. (Barr) and a team of Minnesota state agency representatives (agency team) examine the <br />important criteria relative to PV development on CLP sites, rank the sites for PV development based on <br />key criteria, identify barriers to PV development and make recommendations to address those barriers. <br />Criteria <br />Barr and the agency team assembled stakeholders in a wide-ranging engagement/outreach effort to <br />identify a comprehensive list of criteria and determine their relative importance. <br />The comprehensive list of criteria includes the following: <br />• General obligation bond (GOB) status <br />• Interested power purchaser <br />• Cost associated with connection to transmission and distribution grid <br />• Finance / investor interest and availability <br />• Site generation capacity <br />• Transmission / distribution / substation grid capacity <br />• Increased construction costs / constructability <br />• Local acceptance and interest <br />• Geotechnical characteristics of the cap <br />• CLP program authorized actions <br />• Availability of incentives <br />• Ownership <br />• Equity considerations <br />• Local land use and zoning <br />In discussions with stakeholders, the comprehensive list of criteria was refined to the following list of key <br />criteria which are central to solar development on CLP sites: <br />• GOB status <br />• Cost associated with connection to the transmission and distribution infrastructure <br />• Site generation capacity <br />• Increased construction costs/constructability <br />• Availability of incentives <br />These key criteria were carried forward in our analysis of the sites and identification of barriers and <br />recommended actions. <br />