The University Area Joint Authority, a RETTEW client, has broken ground on a new solar array at its site in State College, PA.

The array will provide more than 2.6 megawatts of power, installed on about nine acres of property. Financed and owned by New York-based Pace Energy, LLC, a renewable energy investment firm, the $7 million array will be among the ten largest in Pennsylvania.

The Authority will use the energy generated to power about 25 percent of its daily advanced wastewater treatment operations, which provides wastewater treatment and reuse water to the majority of the State College region. The solar project will enable the Authority to completely offset its water reuse operations (a portion of the whole facility) with renewable energy.

RETTEW will provide engineering designs for the project, including an energy storage battery system to regulate the regional power frequency.

The Authority provides advanced wastewater treatment to about 50,000 customers in College, Ferguson, Harris, and Patton townships, as well as the Borough of State College. It’s been providing high-quality reuse water to diverse customers in the region since 2005, and has been recognized as an industry leader throughout the Northeast, including a recent designation by the Water Environment Federation as a Utility of the Future Today.