Distributed Energy

Urbana and Champaign Sanitary District Expects 4.1M kWh Solar Energy Generation with New Project

March 24, 2025

67e18fc8d0e44d907795edf3 Urbana Champaign Wastewater Facilities

The wastewater treatment entity which serves the University of Illinois campus and surrounding communities will balance its future energy emissions with a 2.5-MW on-site solar array now under construction.

Urbana and Champaign Sanitary District (UCSD) is having the renewable energy project built by Verde Solutions as part of nearly $36 million in major upgrades at the facilities. The project also includes developers Onyx Renewables and Sol Systems.

Construction on the solar project is scheduled to begin this spring. Once complete, the solar array at UCSD's southwest wastewater treatment plant is expected to produce over 4,100,000 kWh in the first year of production.

Under the power purchase deal the solar could generated close to 85% of UCSD’s southwest plant energy use. The excess power will be used as credits to offset UCSD's power costs.

“Onsite, this project will generate local, fixed price electricity, helping manage costs for UCSD for the next 15 years," said Anna Toenjes, Associate Vice President of Impact & Business Development at Sol Systems, in a statement. "Offsite, Sol Systems will establish a scholarship in partnership with Parkland College to reflect our broader commitment to making a positive difference not only through energy projects but also by investing directly in the communities where we work."

Onyx will complete development, oversee construction, finance, own, and operate the onsite solar energy system, providing UCSD with electricity through a long-term power purchase agreement. Onyx will also monetize the project's renewable energy credits (RECs) as part of the Illinois Shines REC program.

While Sol Systems originated and initially developed the project in 2022 before transferring it to Onyx, Verde Solutions will serve as engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) partner, handling the design and permitting of the project. The system is expected to be operational by the end of 2025.

The onsite solar project is part of a $35.9-million expansion and upgrade of UCSD facilities funded by a loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and anticipated to be completed in 2027. The upcoming energy upgrades, which include more efficient combined heat and power units at UCSD's northeast plant, and onsite production at the facility's southwest plant, are expected to supply about 75 percent of UCSD treatment plants' electricity needs.

The Urbana and Champaign Sanitary District operates two wastewater treatment plants in those two named cities. The municipal utility was established more than 100 years ago and provides services for the university as well as the cities of Urbana and Champaign and villages of Bondville and Savoy.

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About the Author

EnergyTech Staff

Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

He can be reached at [email protected].

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.