In solar project, Pitt looks to the sky in latest renewable energy endeavor

The University of Pittsburgh has signed an agreement to buy all of the solar energy produced by a planned local solar plant, which amounts to about 13% of the Oakland campus’s energy consumption.

The announcement came last week from Aurora Sharrard, Pitt’s director of sustainability. It is part of the university’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2037.

“Electricity generation accounts for about half of the University’s greenhouse gas emissions, so our commitment to local, renewable solar power is an important part of Pitt’s ongoing effort to reduce its carbon footprint,” Sharrard said in a release. “At the same time, it benefits the entire community by reducing pollutants from electricity generation that harm the region’s air quality.”

The partnership is between the university and Gaucho Solar Development, which is a planned solar energy facility slated to move onto 70 acres of land near Pittsburgh International Airport near the border of Beaver and Allegheny counties, according to BlueSky, the airport’s news outlet.

The Gaucho Solar development is a project of Lendlease, an Australia-based infrastructure group with a focus on sustainability.

In a release, Lendlease general manager of energy development Craig Carson said the company is pleased to help the university get closer to its sustainability goals. He said all renewable energy credits earned by the solar project will be given to the university.

Once the project is approved, operations on the site should begin by mid-2022, according to Lendlease.

Pitt’s partnership with the facility also will give students a chance to conduct research related to solar energy and sustainability, and all landscaping at the facility will be pollinator-friendly.

The university in 2018 announced it would enter a partnership with a proposed hydropower station on the Allegheny River — the university will buy 100% of the power created by the plant. The plant, proposed by Boston-based Rye Development, is set to open in 2022. It will supply about 25% of Pitt’s energy.