Providence and Worcester installs solar array in Massachusetts yard

Providence and Worcester Railroad Co. (P&W) in late 2013 installed a solar photovoltaic (PV) system in its Worcester, Mass., yard.

Key Equipment Finance provided financing for the system, which is expected to yield significant electrical savings for the railroad over the next 20 years.

“Energy savings is an important strategy for [us] as we invest in our business and prepare for our next 40 years,” said P&W Chief Financial Officer Dan Noreck in a press release.

The regional is leasing the solar array to offset a portion of its energy costs at the yard. The PV system will enable P&W to earn additional income from selling Solar Renewable Energy Certificates generated for each 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy produced.

P&W operates in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island, and owns four classification yards in Worcester, Cumberland, R.I., and Plainfield and New Haven, Conn. The regional interchanges with CSX Transportation, Canadian Pacific, Norfolk Southern Railway, CN, Pan Am Railways, Pan Am Southern, New England Central Railroad, New York and Atlantic Railroad, and Connecticut Southern Railroad.