Another solar farm is in the works for Calverton.
The 22.9 MW commercial solar energy facility will be developed on two industrially zoned parcels on the west side of Edwards Avenue, if the Riverhead Town Board approves the project.
One of the parcels, the 82.5-acre former Calverton Links golf course, is the site of Long Island Sports Park, which will have to relocate make way for the new solar farm. The other parcel is 115.2 acres of mostly farmland.
The power generated by the new facility will feed the LIPA substation on the east side of Edwards Avenue via connection lines under the town roadway.
The proposed Calverton Solar Energy Center, to be developed by LI Solar Generation, a joint venture of Nextera Energy Resources and National Grid, will add to four other solar farms that are already operating, under construction or in the permit review process. The five solar energy generating facilities in Calverton will together generate totalling 88.2 MW of electricity.
Representatives of Nextera and the company’s attorney, Steven Losquadro of Rocky Point, met with the town board at today’s work session to describe the proposed project, which will require a town board special permit and site plan approval from the planning board.
The proposal will leave wooded portions of the western parcel undisturbed, the applicant’s representatives said.
The proposal is a Type I action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, planner Greg Bergmann told board members. He recommended that the town board seek lead agency status for SEQRA review purposes.
Michael Dowling, a Nextera Energy Resources project director, told board members the company hopes to begin construction of the facility in 2020.
LI Solar Generation is in contract to buy the two parcels comprising the site from two different owners.
Dean Del Prete, owner of Long Island Sports Park, said his lease on the former Calverton Links site runs through the end of this year. He is looking for a new location, he said in an interview this afternoon.
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