- Engie North America
- Commercial
- Holyoke, MA
Project Overview
The Mount Tom Power Plant in Holyoke, MA was a coal burning power plant until it closed in 2014. After the plant closed, the town performed a study to determine how best to repurpose the facility. The study found that installing solar panels on its 20 acres to provide clean energy to Holyoke residents was the best use of the property. Charter was contracted to perform the environmental services for the Solar Field project. This involved excavating and removing 420 tons of asbestos containing soils before the solar panels could be installed.
Alternate Solution
Maintaining an expedited schedule on this project was a driving factor to its success. The Solar Field project required solar panels to be installed and operational by mid-January. Limited site access threatened Charter’s ability to meet this deadline. To mitigate this issue, Charter and the client worked together to identify an alternative solution to this challenge.
The original access point was a road adjacent to active railroad tracks, which required increased safety measures and a flagger. However, securing a flagger was not possible within the timeframe allotted and an alternate access point was determined as the best course forward. Charter and the client worked to identify an adjacent property, the client purchased the property and the team cleared an access route from the property to the site. Despite delays due to access challenges, Charter completed the project on time allowing follow-on work to remain on schedule.
