Holcim proposes to have a 10-megawatt solar energy-generating system built near its cement plant east of Hagerstown, Maryland.
NRG Solar Hagerstown, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc., is proposing to build the array to supply power to the 1260 Security Road plant. NRG Solar Hagerstown will lease the site for 35 years.
LafargeHolcim recently finished modernizing the local plant to meet and exceed state and federal environmental regulations, reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 60% and sulfur dioxide output by about 50%, according to an email that Plant Manager Olivier Terver sent to Herald-Mail Media.
Holcim held a ribbon cutting for that $96 million modernization in October 2016. The solar project with NRG Energy is part of LafargeHolcim's continuing efforts to modernize the plant, reduce its environmental footprint and "support our goals to create a more sustainable construction industry," Terver said.
The solar array could provide up to a fifth of the plant's annual power needs, reducing strain on the local power grid, he said. The project is expected to provide renewable energy to the factory for at least 20 years, according to the zoning application.
“We’re very excited to be working with Holcim on what will be NRG’s first solar project in the state of Maryland. We’re hoping to break ground in the second quarter of 2018,” NRG spokesman Erik Linden wrote in an email to Herald-Mail Media.
NRG is not disclosing the project cost. The proposal for a special exception to establish the solar-energy system is scheduled for Wednesday night before the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals.
The solar array is proposed to be built on a part of Holcim's 120-acre property that is south of the plant and Antietam Creek. The site is zoned agriculture (rural) with a mineral overlay.
