Watertown’s old landfill has been sitting vacant for years, but a renewable energy company believes 40 of the 78 acres of unused space would be a great fit for a solar farm. There was a similar proposal in 2020, but those plans never materialized. Now the city is being presented with another potential option that could be a gamble.
Greg Royer represents Willdan Performance Engineering. He discussed a number of plans detailing solar farms with a range of energy outputs. The largest, and most financially risky, would generate more than 14,000 megawatts a year.
At its full size, estimates from Willdan say the project could lose as much as $151,000 a year or earn up to $450,000 a year.