10 Maine solar farm sites to be sold to Massachusetts company

A Haverhill, Mass.-based solar power company said Tuesday it is buying a group of 10 community solar farms under development in Maine from Dimension Renewable Energy of Atlanta for an undisclosed price.

Nexamp Inc. plans to acquire the portfolio, representing potentially 50 megawatts of generation capacity, and then build out the generation facilities next year, according to a news release. The company will then operate them and sell electricity by subscription to residential customers of Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power.

Dimension began establishing the solar farms in early 2019 and has already obtained permits for many of them. Others are expected to be permitted before the end of the year, the release said. Nexamp is also developing more than a dozen additional solar farms of its own across Maine, and expects them to follow a similar timeline.

Detailed information about the generation sites wasn’t immediately available.

The development boom has been sparked in part by June 2019 legislation that raised the state’s “net metering cap,” allowing solar arrays of up to 5 MW to sell or store excess energy. The previous net metering limit was 660 kilowatts.

Raising the cap made renewable energy development more viable for investors, developers and municipalities. Also as a result, renters and other Mainers who normally wouldn’t be able to buy a solar power system for their home use have been able to invest jointly in small community solar farms.

Ultimately, CMP and Versant customers who subscribe to the Nexamp power supply will receive a 15% credit on their electricity bills.

“The bold policymaking that attracts renewable energy investment and deployment is already producing results in the Pine Tree State,” said John Murphy, senior vice president of corporate development for Nexamp. “Making clean energy simple and accessible to all is core to our mission, and it’s rewarding to partner with experienced developers like Dimension to extend our leading community solar program to new consumers in Maine.”