SWACO cancels solar project on Columbus, Ohio, landfill

The Grove City, Ohio-based Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) has canceled a $70 million project to create a 50-megawatt solar panel farm on a closed landfill, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

The project, which could have supplied electricity to about 5,000 Columbus homes, was one of the planned sources for the city’s municipal green energy aggregation program.

SWACO sent a registered letter to solar park developer BQ Energy Development LLC stating that a ground lease would be allowed to automatically terminate “as a result of (the firm) not commencing operations within the required time.”

RELATED: SWACO approves construction of solar farm at former landfill site

“While disappointed that the project was not able to achieve our redevelopment and renewable energy goals for the site, SWACO remains committed to developing the closed landfill into a solar array and will be exploring options available to us in order to achieve our vision for the site and generate green energy for the benefit of Franklin County families and businesses,” SWACO spokesperson Hanna Greer-Brown tells the Dispatch.

In 2020, SWACO agreed to lease BQ Energy 173 acres of the closed landfill on the city’s south side for 25 years. SWACO began managing the landfill in 1987, and the site was repurposed as Phoenix Links Golf Course in 2000. The golf course closed in 2015 due to no firms wanting to operate it, according to the story.

While SWACO says it remains committed to developing the closed landfill, it is not in talks with any developers, Greer-Brown adds.