Construction Begins On New York’s Largest Solar Farm

Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (Greenbacker), an investment manager and independent power producer, announced the start of major construction activities on its Cider Solar Farm (Cider) in Genesee County, New York. Cider, which broke ground on early construction activities in late 2024, was the first renewable energy project of its kind to receive a siting permit from the state’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Transmission (ORES) under Section 94-c rules and, upon completion in late 2026, will be New York’s largest solar farm to date.

“We are pleased to begin major construction on New York’s largest solar energy project yet,” said Dan de Boer, Greenbacker Interim chief executive officer and head of infrastructure. “Cider offers tangible economic benefits to Genesee County communities and the broader region, and it represents an important milestone in New York’s clean energy transition that will power the state forward for years to come.”

According to Greenbacker, Cider will deliver significant energy and economic benefits to its surrounding communities. Once it enters commercial operation, Cider is expected to supply about 1 million MWh of renewable electricity per year, which is enough to power approximately 120,000 New York households. The project is projected to generate roughly US$100 million in revenue to the Genesee County community over its operational lifespan through property taxes, host community agreements, and tax benefits.

Cider’s initial construction phase will focus on substantive civil and mechanical activities, including placement of steel piling and racking for solar modules. All phases of construction are expected to be fully underway by mid-summer, including electrical wiring and installation of the high-voltage utility interconnection infrastructure.

The utility-scale photovoltaic solar project, which spans approximately 2500 acres (1012 ha), will also support hundreds of construction jobs. Since day one, Greenbacker has committed to working with local Genesee County organized labor whenever possible and seeks to meet and exceed all wage and hiring requirements outlined by the state. Additionally, Greenbacker has secured a Project Labor Agreement with a New York-based bona fide building and construction trade organization to ensure Cider is staffed with experienced, skilled, and trained union workers.

“Our union is pleased to provide local, highly skilled labor supporting Cider’s construction,” said Carpenter’s Local 276 business manager Chris Austin. “While this is an important moment for New York’s green energy ambitions, it is an even bigger indicator of the growing strength of our state’s specialized workforce—which is drawn chiefly from labor unions like ours—to support projects like Cider in the Empire State.”

Greenbacker became Cider’s long-term owner and operator following its acquisition of the project from Hecate Energy LLC (Hecate), a developer of renewable power projects and energy storage solutions in the US Cider is Greenbacker’s largest clean energy project to date, for which it secured US$950 million in aggregate financing to support its acquisition, construction, and operation.

The project also plans to employ agrivoltaics—the practice of utilizing a site for both solar photovoltaic power generation and agricultural activities. Initially, Cider plans to host rotational sheep grazing on over 300 acres (121 ha), with the potential to host additional acreage over Cider’s operational lifetime, as part of a more cost-effective, nature-based approach to vegetation management at the site.

The start of Cider’s construction marks an important milestone in New York’s efforts to build a robust green energy workforce and achieve its clean energy goals. Solar projects like Cider have created 14,000 jobs statewide. During its first year of operation, the energy generated by Cider is expected to offset approximately 749,572 tons (680,000 tonnes) of carbon dioxide, which according to the US Environmental Protection Agency is equivalent to the annual emissions from over 150,000 passenger vehicles.

As of December 31, 2024, Greenbacker’s clean energy assets had cumulatively produced more than 11 million MWh of clean power since January 2016, abating over 7.7 million tons (7 million tonnes) of carbon and saving nearly 8 billion gallons (30 liters) of water. Greenbacker’s fleet of operating and pre-operating projects currently support, or are expected to support, thousands of green jobs.