Veolia announces waste treatment facility solar project

Environmental services provider Veolia North America has partnered with Today’s Power Inc. and South Central Arkansas Electric Cooperative, both based in Arkansas, to install a 5-megawatt single axis tracking solar energy system at Veolia’s hazardous waste treatment facility in Gum Springs, Arkansas.

The solar array is expected to produce more than 250 million kilowatt hours over the next 25 years, Veolia says.

The company expects the solar facility to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2024, and the electricity from the solar panels will be used to meet the facility’s daily demands, with excess going to feed the region’s main grid.

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“This investment to bring clean renewable power to our Gum Springs operation is a reflection of Veolia North America’s commitment to environmental sustainability and leading the ecological transformation,” says Bob Cappadona, president and CEO of Veolia’s Environmental Solutions and Services division. “As a leading provider of environmental services to communities across the U.S., we have an obligation to ensure that the facilities we operate are equipped to limit our impact on the environment as much as possible.”

Veolia, based in Boston, says the project will make significant contributions to decarbonization, offsetting carbon emissions at the plant by an estimated 105,000 tons over the next 25 years. Along with the solar installation, Veolia is pursuing several other initiatives to reduce its impact on the environment, including a plan to reforest nearly 1,500 acres surrounding the Gum Springs property to sequester carbon emissions, provide protection for local habitat and prevent erosion.

"Today's Power Inc. is pleased to work with Veolia and South Central Electric Cooperative to provide this 5-megawatt solar facility to support their renewable energy needs,” Today’s Power CEO and President Derek Dyson says. “[Today’s Power] will be building and operating this facility, and we look forward to a continued strong relationship with Veolia and South Central Electric Cooperative.”

Veolia currently employs 136 people at the Gum Springs facility, an increase from 61 employees when the company began operating in Clark County in 2020. The company says it expects to employ more than 200 people at Gum Springs by 2025.

To make room for the new solar panels, Veolia recently cleared a 30-acre lot across the street from the facility. The cleared timber, amounting to approximately 4,300 tons of mixed hardwood and pine timber, was harvested for building materials which sequester carbon, the company says.