A long-closed landfill in Winton Hills is about to start pulling its weight again. Cincinnati leaders gathered Friday to break ground on the Center Hill Solar Array, a roughly 10-megawatt installation that will turn the dormant Center Hill landfill into one of the city's largest renewable-energy investments. Mayor Aftab Pureval and Council member Mark Jeffreys framed the project as a way to cut city energy costs while finally putting the capped site to work for residents.
City officials say the $24 million project will be developed and maintained by UPower Energy and will sit on the capped Center Hill landfill, according to WLWT. At the ceremony, Pureval said the work "puts us on the map" and argued it will help shield Cincinnati from rising energy costs, while Jeffreys called the plan a model for turning what he described as a landfill liability into a community asset.
How This Fits Cincinnati's Clean-Energy Plan
According to the City of Cincinnati Office of Environment & Sustainability, the Center Hill conversion lines up with the Green Cincinnati Plan and the mayor's broader push to expand municipal solar capacity. City documents describe this work as part of an early phase of large-scale solar meant to cut emissions, lower utility bills for government buildings and boost resilience for critical public services when the grid is stressed.
Funding Twists And The Road Here
Plans for solar at Center Hill have been on and off for years. Earlier reporting shows a federal grant tied to the effort was rescinded, and the city pivoted to alternative financing, including power-purchase agreements, to keep the project alive, per WLWT. A public project listing describes the site as roughly 62 acres and puts an earlier project value near $12 million, according to ConstructConnect, suggesting cost estimates and scope have shifted as the deal evolved.
What It Will Deliver Locally
Officials say the Center Hill Solar Array's output would be roughly equivalent to the electricity used by about 1,200 homes, although the power is intended to offset municipal operations rather than be sold directly to residents, as reported by The Cincinnati Exchange. Early bidding activity and project paperwork indicate construction is expected to begin this summer, with more permitting and procurement steps still in the queue.
City planning materials present the Center Hill array as a replicable example of turning brownfields into clean-energy assets, and officials say they expect the project to provide long-term savings for taxpayers while cleaning up underused land, according to the City of Cincinnati. Final contracts, delivery schedules and the details of the power-purchase agreement are set to be worked out in the coming months as the project moves from celebratory shovels in the dirt into full procurement and construction.
