Ameresco Inc. and the City of Missoula, Mont., have completed a 545 kW behind-the-meter, non-export solar photovoltaic array at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
Missoula selected Ameresco to design, build, own, operate and maintain the 948-panel ground-mounted array under a 25-year solar energy agreement, which required zero upfront capital funding from the city. As the largest behind-the-meter, non-export solar PV array in Montana, the project is expected to produce more than 700,000 kWh each year and offset the city’s wastewater treatment facility’s annual electricity consumption by more than 20%.
“Our city has a long track record of implementing forward-thinking conservation and climate change measures and the completion of the solar PV array at our wastewater treatment facility is another demonstration of our commitment to sustainability,” says Ross Mollenhauer, engineering manager for the City of Missoula. “We are thankful to our partners at Ameresco for helping us maximize our investment in clean energy and for producing work that will enable the city to lower our electricity consumption and emissions, and in turn move us towards our goal of carbon neutrality.”
The city and Ameresco’s local Montana team began construction on the solar array during the summer of 2022.