Cedar Creek Energy finishes 5-MW solar array on Minnesota landfill

If you thought old garbage dumps were only good for seagulls, think again. Cedar Creek Energy, a solar developer based in Minnesota, just finished building a massive solar array on top of a closed landfill in the city of Ramsey, Minnesota. The project is called the Ramsey II Renewable Station. Crews covered nearly 25 acres of buffer land right next to the Anoka-Ramsey Closed Landfill with about 8,700 bifacial solar panels. Construction kicked off in March and wrapped up in just six months with zero safety incidents. The system packs a 5.046-megawatt punch, which is enough electricity to power about 1,000 homes. Cedar Creek Energy designed and built the setup for project owner Kearsarge Energy, an energy development company. Connexus Energy, a local utility provider, will buy all the electricity generated by the panels through a 30-year power purchase agreement. Connexus also leases the land directly from the state of Minnesota. Getting this project off the ground was no walk in the park. It took over 10 years of coordination between the utility, the state, local officials, and project partners, plus a change in state law back in 2021 to clear the legal roadblocks. Cedar Creek Energy Chief Operating Officer Alex Gast said, "This project represents what's possible when utilities, developers, regulators and state leaders work together toward long-term energy solutions." Cedar Creek Energy is not walking away now either. They signed a long-term operations and maintenance agreement to keep the panels running smoothly. Even garbage dumps can help you keep the lights on.