Burdett solar project online for Enbridge
By Herald on April 8, 2021.
Collin Gallant SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS cgallant@medicinehatnews.com
Enbridge has brought a new solar power facility near Burdett online in just six month in order to cut the carbon footprint of the pipeline giant.
Alberta Solar One, a 10-megawatt solar panel array that covers a half section of land in the county of Forty Mile was operating on March 24, the company and it’s partner, Morgan Solar, announced on Tuesday. That comes after breaking ground on the 30,000 panel farm in September 2020. About 80 workers were employed on site during construction.
“This project is a win-win for Enbridge’s power team as we continue to grow our renewable energy portfolio and support Enbridge’s sustainability goals,” said Matthew Akman, Enbridge’s senior vice-president of power and strategy.
“We’re excited to see our first Canadian self-power project come online, and we will continue to invest in opportunities across North America that generate energy to power our operations.”
Last November, Enbridge became one of the largest oilpatch companies to vow to become carbon neutral in its operations by 2050 – an announcement that was highlighted by revelation that Alberta Solar One was well underway.
The company also owns stakes in four wind-power facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan and is constructing a solar facility in New Jersey to directly supply power needed for pumping through its pipeline network there.
Ontario-based Morgan Solar’s contribution to the Alberta solar project was initial design and permitting work, as well as its “SimbaX” system. It is a coating on panels that concentrates light entering the photovoltiac cells. It is the first utility-scale facility to use the system.
The project was also supported by Emissions Reduction Alberta and Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
The companies say that with a 10.5 megawatt capacity, the field will produce enough electricity over the course of a year to power about 30,000 and offset about 12,000 tonnes of carbon from other generation sources.
It feeds into the Fortis distribution network from the site three kilometres north of the hamlet, 71 kilometres west of Medicine Hat.
The company plans to station a flock of 50 sheep at the site this spring to manage vegetation and weeds.
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Great project. But financially, a $20 Million cost just for adding 0.1% to the grid.
…and that miniscule amount of power takes up a massive amount of land that could have been used for housing and/or food production.