Partners recognized for accomplishments in safety, innovation, quality & teamwork
EDISON, N.J., November 29, 2023 - CS Energy and CEP Renewables announced that they have won the Engineering News-Record (ENR) Best Project Award of Merit in the Energy/Industrial category for the New York region. This is the tenth ENR Best Project Award CS Energy has won since 2015. The annual ENR Regional Best Project Awards program is dedicated to honoring the best construction projects and the companies that designed and built them in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Independent juries of industry leaders in design and construction judged the projects using five criteria, including safety, innovation, quality, and teamwork. The award recipients were recently honored at a ceremony in New York.
The companies received this award for the Mount Olive landfill solar project, which is the largest solar project ever developed on a capped landfill in the U.S. Consisting of approximately 57,000 ground-mounted solar panels built with union labor, this 25.6 megawatt (MW) array helped transform a U.S. EPA Superfund site into a clean energy asset capable of powering thousands of homes annually. The project also enabled the township to recoup nearly $2.3 million in past taxes. CEP Renewables purchased the property by way of the redevelopment and tax lien foreclosure process, an entirely unique approach that was also recognized by the New Jersey League of Municipalities with an Award for Innovation in Governance.
“We are honored to have another innovative solar project recognized by ENR, the construction industry’s premier news source and organizer of this prestigious awards program,” said Erol Ozkirbas, Chief Operating Officer at CS Energy. “We enjoyed leveraging our landfill solar expertise and working alongside our longtime partners to overcome the unique challenges associated with this sensitive, capped landfill site.”
Due to the fact that the capped landfill site could not be pierced, the companies had to work closely together to provide site optimization and value engineering. Extensive landfill settlement analyses were required prior to designing the project and developing site access plans in order to ensure maximum solar generation, while simultaneously preserving the landfill cap. Despite concrete costs having risen 10 percent in the past year alone, the project partners were able to substantially reduce the costs of the concrete blocks required for the solar racking system. In addition to turning a previously underutilized space into a solar power plant for thousands of homes in New Jersey, the Mount Olive project also contributes to the state’s ambitious clean energy and emissions reduction goals.
“We are very proud to have received this award from ENR,” said Chris Ichter, Executive Vice President at CEP Renewables. “We look forward to continuing to build upon our success of over a decade of experience deploying challenging projects like this in the years ahead. Projects like Mount Olive are critical to providing greater clean energy, jobs, and tax revenue for local communities.”
About CS Energy:
CS Energy is an industry-leading engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) renewable energy firm that designs and builds optimized projects in solar, energy storage, and emerging energy industries. CS Energy has successfully designed and installed over 1.5 GW of solar and 500 MWh of energy storage projects across the United States. Owned by American Securities, a leading US private equity firm, CS Energy leverages strong relationships with solar developers, IPPs, utilities, off-takers, suppliers, and landowners to help our customers streamline the project development process, lower project costs, and create value for all stakeholders as a trusted and long-term partner.
About CEP Renewables:
CEP Renewables designs, develops, and builds grid-connected, utility-scale solar projects. With global expertise developing projects in Europe, Asia, and North America, the company has turned its attention to New Jersey and supporting the Governor's ambitious Energy Master Plan (requiring 100% utilization of clean energy by 2050). CEP utilizes its highly skilled professional team to implement complex remediation, engineering, and permitting strategies that allow it to bring particularly challenging projects from conception to energization. For more information visit https://www.ceprenewables.com/.