Solar and battery storage facility at Riverhead’s former landfill nearing completion, Kern says

A solar energy and battery storage facility on Riverhead Town’s closed and capped Youngs Avenue landfill is “days away from completion,” Council Member Bob Kern announced Thursday.

The project, developed by CVE North America, combines an estimated 7 megawatts of solar capacity with 13.68 megawatt-hours of battery storage, according to Kern’s Oct. 22 press release. It is expected to generate approximately 9,400 megawatt-hours of electricity annually.

The installation will generate lease revenue and payments in lieu of taxes while providing electric-bill savings for the town and participating residents and businesses, Kern said.

The town will receive credits associated with 40% of the project’s solar output, according to the release. More than 120 local households and small businesses have signed up for the remaining 60%, receiving credits on their utility bills without installing solar panels on their own properties.

Kern estimated the town will receive a one-time bonus of more than $70,000 when the facility begins operating, annual lease revenue exceeding $150,000 and an annual payment in lieu of taxes of approximately $38,000, with increases in subsequent years.

The lease attached to the Town Board’s July 2023 approval provides for a commercial-operations bonus of $10,500 per megawatt of direct-current solar capacity and initial annual operating rent of $22,000 per megawatt. It also provides for annual rent increases of 2% and an additional $20,000 increase in the 16th year of operation.

The board authorized a 25-year operating term, with two optional five-year extensions. The lease’s definition of the permitted solar energy system expressly includes battery storage.

The project follows several attempts to establish a solar facility at the former landfill, which closed in 1993 and was subsequently capped. Earlier efforts involving Borrego Solar and EmPower Solar did not advance.

CVE presented its proposal to the Town Board in April 2022, at Kern’s request. The town subsequently solicited proposals and selected CVE in November 2022, before authorizing the lease in July 2023.

CVE announced the start of construction in May 2025, identifying the Riverhead installation as its first solar and battery storage project in New York State. The company said the batteries would store excess solar energy for release during periods of higher demand.

Kern credited former Council Member George Gabrielsen with leading the town’s original effort to reuse the capped landfill for clean energy. He also acknowledged Town Engineer Ken Testa, town departments, the Riverhead Fire Department, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Council Member Ken Rothwell for their work on the project.

A ribbon-cutting date has not yet been announced.