ALBANY COUNTY — Ground was ceremoniously broken in Colonie on Friday for a 2.1 megawatt solar facility off of Route 155 near the county’s airport on what was once Shaker farmland.

 Albany County’s first major solar photovoltaic ground-mount array will be built on five acres of county property located at 897 Watervliet Shaker Road. Construction is expected to be complete in 2024.

Work will begin with site preparation, including the removal of the invasive black locust trees on the site. Last year, the county legislature passed a resolution requiring that each tree cleared from county land had to be replaced with another tree or paid for. Native pollinators are to be planted in place of the cleared locusts.

New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019, calls for 70 percent of the state’s electricity to be sourced from renewable energy by 2030.

The county is going to purchase the nearly 2.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity generated each year by the facility and then be reimbursed.

Siemens, the project developer, was selected through a competitive bid process. The solar project will be owned and operated by Calibrant Energy, a joint venture between Siemens and the financial services company Macquarie Group.

A State Environmental Quality Review for the project was conducted last year with public hearings last spring.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which has a radar tower on the site, has approved the project.

“Once complete, this solar farm will be able to replace the equivalent carbon emissions of 252 homes and through this partnership with NYPA [New York Power Authority], we will ultimately save tax dollars on electricity costs,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy in a release from his office.

The site was selected among other county properties, McCoy said, because there are “virtually no neighbors, and the array is a compatible use with the radar tower.”

Two other entities are benefitting from the solar project: BOCES students and the Shaker Heritage Society.

Students at the Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational Services will participate in project construction and maintenance of the solar array and monitor the site.

“This project will provide students at Capital Region BOCES first-hand experience in the construction, installation and maintenance process for this technology, in turn gaining valuable work-based experience in the field,” said Joe Dragone, senior executive officer at Capital Region BOCES, in the release. “Further integrating the use of real-time data and energy systems from this project will support the knowledge and technical training that our students receive in the classroom.”

The site of the first Shaker settlement in the United States is also located off of Route 155 not far from the solar site.

“Shaker Heritage Society is grateful for the provision of funding for a new roof for the 1848 Shaker Meeting House, and we are happy to support initiatives to enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of our home,” said Johanna Batman, executive director of the society, in the release.

“Renowned around the country for their honesty and the quality of their craftsmanship, the Shakers also embraced agricultural innovation and sustainable practices,” she went on. “This solar project carries forward these ideals by converting former Shaker farmland into a source of renewable energy for public benefit. Where farmers once harvested crops, technicians will now harvest sunlight.”