In the end of 2017, the town was approached about the possibility of Londonderry having interest partnering in a large scale solar project. After a lot of research done by the town, it was found that the area that used to be home to the town dump off of Auburn Road would be feasible for this project. This area could be used for a very large solar array and would be the largest one in the state of New Hampshire to date according to Town Manager Kevin Smith.
The land in discussion is approximately 200 acres, but they would not be using all of the land according to Steve Cotton, the Administrative Support Coordinator for the town. The focus would be about 85 acres to avoid disturbing wetlands. The hope with this project is to use the land space available and bring in some new revenue to the town. Cotton proposed to the council a 10 megawatt solar farm on the 200 acre property. Even though they cannot feasibly use all 200 acres, the goal is to eventually possibly add another 10 megawatt solar farm on the property with the remaining 115 acres sometime in the future. In the meantime, the idea was brought forth about possibly using that additional land to install a dog park for Londonderry. That will not likely happen, due to the area of the land itself.
According to Cotton the cost for 85 acres would $1,000/acre and $200 for the remaining 115 acres currently not in use. The town will also be looking into a pilot program that will add $10,000 per megawatt or $100,000 per year. In the first year, the town is looking at $208,000 of revenue to bring into the town from this project. This would be the largest solar facility in NH, being about five times largest than the one currently in operation. With this energy created, the power will be injected back into the grid and sold at wholesale. The solar field itself would provide about enough power for roughly 5,000 homes. Since this was just a review, only the consensus was needed of the council. The Town Council gave their nod of approval for the project to move forward.