Nebraska county to install solar panels on closed landfill

The first-of-its-kind project in the state will be funded by a $3.5 million grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust.

A capped landfill in Douglas County, Nebraska, will take on a new life as a solar facility thanks to a $3.5 million grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust.

The project, which is the first of its kind in the state, is a partnership between the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) and Douglas County.

“We had been working to find ways to get this done and look for key enablement things to occur that would allow us to move this forward. And so, the Nebraska Environmental Trust really did that for us,” Brad Underwood, OPPD’s vice president of systems transformation, tells WOWT.

The energy generated on the 160-acre plot of land will be processed by an exiting OPPD substation nearby, helping to power homes in the area.

“Anything around the location will be able to benefit from the facility itself,” Underwood says.

The solar installation will take roughly three years to complete, according to OPPD.