Solar power is coming to the Howell Landfill as Monmouth County Freeholders have awarded a lease agreement to turn the property on Lakewood-Allenwood road into a solar energy project.

The county owned property, commonly known as the Howell Landfill, was listed on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) 2014 Landfill List as properly closed.

“Creating a solar panel project at the closed landfill in Howell is an all-around win,” Freeholder Director Tom Arnone said. “The solar power that comes from this project will save taxpayer dollars while providing an environmentally clean energy source that will be used to power our homes, local businesses, traffic signals and everything in between.”

A 19 year, 364 day Ground Lease Agreement was awarded to HESP Solar LLC of Suffern, New York.

As per the terms of the lease, the company will pay the County $37,500 per megawatt (MW) constructed for the solar project.

The project is estimated to be up to 10 MW, which would equal up to $375,000 per year and up to $7,500,000 over the twenty year lease.

Monmouth County will share a percentage of the money received through the lease with Howell Township.

“We will be watching this project very closely and studying its success to see if this is something to replicate in the future,” Freeholder Director Arnone said.

For more information about Monmouth County, go to www.visitmonmouth.com.

More Jersey Shore News:

More From 92.7 WOBM