January 16, 2025 – UGE, a leader in commercial and community solar, announces that it has reached the ‘Notice to Proceed’ (NTP) milestone for its 1.5MW community solar project in Newport, Maine. The NTP milestone indicates that financing for the project has closed and all necessary permits and interconnection agreements for the project are in place.
UGE’s newest community solar project will be built on former farm and recreation land in Newport, Maine, which is owned by a local family. Each year, the project will offset nearly 2,000 metric tons (over 4 million pounds) of CO2 emissions, the equivalent produced by burning over 215,000 gallons of gasoline. At 1.5MW it will produce enough electricity to power more than 350 homes.
This is the first project for which UGE will be awarded the Domestic Content Adder, an Investment Tax Credit introduced via the Inflation Reduction Act. Designed to strengthen the United States’ solar manufacturing industry, the Domestic Content Adder rewards solar developers for using domestically produced equipment in their projects. Eager to support a stronger domestic solar manufacturing industry, UGE established a Module Supply Agreement earlier this year with Heliene, one of North America’s fastest growing solar manufacturers. For this and other projects under construction, UGE is utilizing U.S.-made solar modules from Heliene, inclusive of US-made cells.
The Newport project will generate a meaningful amount of clean renewable energy, even though community solar projects such as this are much smaller in size than utility-scale solar farms. Community solar projects benefit from being easier to blend into the surrounding landscape and conceal with trees and other natural barriers than larger utility-scale solar farms.
Having reached NTP, the Newport project will now enter deployment and construction, the final phase before commercial operation. Once complete, the projects will join UGE’s operating portfolio, which currently stands at 24MW. The Newport project is projected to complete construction and begin operating this summer.
About UGE
UGE develops, owns, and operates community and commercial solar and battery storage projects. Our distributed energy solutions provide cheaper, cleaner energy to businesses and households throughout the United States. With the backing of NOVA Infrastructure and leaning on more than a decade of experience across 500 megawatts of projects, we’re working daily to make renewable energy accessible and affordable for all. Visit us at www.ugei.com. For more information, contact UGE at [email protected].
