Two projects on opposite sides of the Richmond-Henrico line are set to add 30 acres of solar panel arrays atop decommissioned landfills east of the city.

Richmond City Council and Henrico County supervisors have each OK’d respective solar farm projects near Oakwood Cemetery south of the Interstate 64-Nine Mile Road interchange.

Henrico’s arrangement is with Dominion Energy for a 16-acre, 2-megawatt solar power generation facility on a 58-acre site immediately south of the interchange that was used as a county landfill until 1978.

Richmond’s deal with Ameresco, a publicly traded renewable energy infrastructure firm with an office downtown, is for a 5MW solar farm and pollinator meadow that’s expected to cover 15 acres of a 34-acre former landfill site at 3800 E. Richmond Road, south of Oakwood Cemetery and west of the city’s Oakwood and Chimborazo neighborhoods.

A pollinator meadow is also planned for Richmond’s site. (Image courtesy City of Richmond)

The city and county will continue to own their respective sites through ground leases with the energy companies, both with initial 35-year terms. City council approved its lease in October, while Henrico supervisors this month approved a provisional-use permit for Dominion’s lease, which was finalized last year.

The projects put to use parts of previously dormant properties and will add to solar power generation and pollination goals. Dominion’s 2MW farm would add to its goal of adding 16,000 megawatts of solar generating capacity over the next 15 years, according to documents, while the Ameresco facility is expected to help Richmond achieve its goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through its RVAgreen 2050 initiative. Dominion has a similar 2050 net-zero goal.

In the works for over a year, the Richmond project, called the East End Solar Meadow Project, involved two community engagement meetings in mid-2024 and a request-for-interest solicitation that drew seven responses. Following panel interviews, Ameresco submitted a lone bid for the contract, and city staff recommended it be awarded the project, which is projected at up to $20 million.

Ameresco will install ground-mounted solar arrays on the site, which was closed as a landfill in 1983 and capped. A two-year exploratory process will determine the total area of the array, which is expected to be about 15 acres. The rest of the site, which operates as a public debris collection and recycling drop-off site, would not be involved in the project.

A site plan shows the planned solar panel placements for the Richmond site. (City documents)

Ameresco’s 35-year lease, which includes options for two 2½-year extensions, calls for the company to pay $20,000 up front and $10,000 for each of the two exploratory years, followed by annual rent payments of $2,500 per acre of solar once the facility is operational.

With the facility expected to cover 15 acres, the total rent over 35 years would exceed $1.3 million, with the annual payments increasing 3% each year. The city expects to receive over $2.7 million in total compensation over the course of the 35-year term.

Ameresco would also pay $500,000 up front to support a fund for a community benefits agreement that would be shaped by additional public engagement meetings over the course of the project. The agreement is to detail minimum energy reduction savings expected for the nearby Chimborazo Park, Church Hill and Fulton Hill neighborhoods, with the total cost of projects resulting from the agreement to be reduced from the 35-year rent total.

The facility would be connected to Dominion Energy’s grid, and a limited number of households around the facility would be eligible for a shared solar program through Dominion that could reduce their energy bills by about $160 a year.

A rendering of the solar farm planned for the Henrico site south of the interchange. (County documents)

At the Henrico site, Dominion is planning to place rows of panels that would be anchored by weighted bases, rather than in-ground foundations. A county staff report states that the anchored installation approach is necessary to avoid disturbing the capped landfill surface.

According to its lease, Dominion will pay Henrico an annual base rent of $30,000 once the facility is operational, or over $1.05 million over 35 years, with the annual payments increasing 1% each year. Lower rent payments will be made over the project’s development, which is expected to last three years, and during construction.

A site plan for the Henrico site.

The report states that the Nine Mile Road facility would be similar to a smaller solar array that was approved last year for part of Henrico’s closed Springfield Road landfill. That array is used to power a sewage pump station near the landfill.

The approvals come about a year after Hanover County supervisors rejected a 250-acre solar farm proposed for a 1,500-acre site by North Carolina-based Strata Clean Energy. Around the same time, Powhatan supervisors revised the county’s zoning ordinance to discourage solar farms on agriculturally zoned land.

Meanwhile, in other business at their meeting this month, Henrico supervisors denied a proposal for a 350-home development just west of the Springfield landfill.

Two projects on opposite sides of the Richmond-Henrico line are set to add 30 acres of solar panel arrays atop decommissioned landfills east of the city.

Richmond City Council and Henrico County supervisors have each OK’d respective solar farm projects near Oakwood Cemetery south of the Interstate 64-Nine Mile Road interchange.

Henrico’s arrangement is with Dominion Energy for a 16-acre, 2-megawatt solar power generation facility on a 58-acre site immediately south of the interchange that was used as a county landfill until 1978.

Richmond’s deal with Ameresco, a publicly traded renewable energy infrastructure firm with an office downtown, is for a 5MW solar farm and pollinator meadow that’s expected to cover 15 acres of a 34-acre former landfill site at 3800 E. Richmond Road, south of Oakwood Cemetery and west of the city’s Oakwood and Chimborazo neighborhoods.

A pollinator meadow is also planned for Richmond’s site. (Image courtesy City of Richmond)

The city and county will continue to own their respective sites through ground leases with the energy companies, both with initial 35-year terms. City council approved its lease in October, while Henrico supervisors this month approved a provisional-use permit for Dominion’s lease, which was finalized last year.

The projects put to use parts of previously dormant properties and will add to solar power generation and pollination goals. Dominion’s 2MW farm would add to its goal of adding 16,000 megawatts of solar generating capacity over the next 15 years, according to documents, while the Ameresco facility is expected to help Richmond achieve its goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through its RVAgreen 2050 initiative. Dominion has a similar 2050 net-zero goal.

In the works for over a year, the Richmond project, called the East End Solar Meadow Project, involved two community engagement meetings in mid-2024 and a request-for-interest solicitation that drew seven responses. Following panel interviews, Ameresco submitted a lone bid for the contract, and city staff recommended it be awarded the project, which is projected at up to $20 million.

Ameresco will install ground-mounted solar arrays on the site, which was closed as a landfill in 1983 and capped. A two-year exploratory process will determine the total area of the array, which is expected to be about 15 acres. The rest of the site, which operates as a public debris collection and recycling drop-off site, would not be involved in the project.

A site plan shows the planned solar panel placements for the Richmond site. (City documents)

Ameresco’s 35-year lease, which includes options for two 2½-year extensions, calls for the company to pay $20,000 up front and $10,000 for each of the two exploratory years, followed by annual rent payments of $2,500 per acre of solar once the facility is operational.

With the facility expected to cover 15 acres, the total rent over 35 years would exceed $1.3 million, with the annual payments increasing 3% each year. The city expects to receive over $2.7 million in total compensation over the course of the 35-year term.

Ameresco would also pay $500,000 up front to support a fund for a community benefits agreement that would be shaped by additional public engagement meetings over the course of the project. The agreement is to detail minimum energy reduction savings expected for the nearby Chimborazo Park, Church Hill and Fulton Hill neighborhoods, with the total cost of projects resulting from the agreement to be reduced from the 35-year rent total.

The facility would be connected to Dominion Energy’s grid, and a limited number of households around the facility would be eligible for a shared solar program through Dominion that could reduce their energy bills by about $160 a year.

A rendering of the solar farm planned for the Henrico site south of the interchange. (County documents)

At the Henrico site, Dominion is planning to place rows of panels that would be anchored by weighted bases, rather than in-ground foundations. A county staff report states that the anchored installation approach is necessary to avoid disturbing the capped landfill surface.

According to its lease, Dominion will pay Henrico an annual base rent of $30,000 once the facility is operational, or over $1.05 million over 35 years, with the annual payments increasing 1% each year. Lower rent payments will be made over the project’s development, which is expected to last three years, and during construction.

A site plan for the Henrico site.

The report states that the Nine Mile Road facility would be similar to a smaller solar array that was approved last year for part of Henrico’s closed Springfield Road landfill. That array is used to power a sewage pump station near the landfill.

The approvals come about a year after Hanover County supervisors rejected a 250-acre solar farm proposed for a 1,500-acre site by North Carolina-based Strata Clean Energy. Around the same time, Powhatan supervisors revised the county’s zoning ordinance to discourage solar farms on agriculturally zoned land.

Meanwhile, in other business at their meeting this month, Henrico supervisors denied a proposal for a 350-home development just west of the Springfield landfill.