Province’s solar targets a welcome push for firms
Solar companies in Alberta say they are ready and willing to help the provincial government meet its stated goal of sourcing half its electricity needs from the sun by the end of 2018.
Though massive wind farms have sprung up across the province over the past decade, putting that resource on the forefront of the province’s transition to greener energy, Alberta’s fledgling solar industry has not yet seen any largescale, commercial development. But renewable energy proponents say the industry is on the verge of a breakthrough, and a commitment from the provincial government to procure solar for its own needs will provide a welcome push.
“Announcements like the government has made, which talk about long-term contracting for the sale of power, those are the kinds of opportunities that BluEarth looks for in terms of making decisions on timing to proceed,” said Kelly Matheson-King, chief operating officer for BluEarth Renewables.
BluEarth, a Calgary-based company, has 39 MW of solar power in development with its proposed Burdett and Yellow Lake installations. She said the company believes it can be ready to assist the provincial government with its electricity needs by 2018.
“We absolutely intend to participate in this process — we’re looking forward to it,” she said.
David Kelly, CEO of Calgarybased Skyfire Energy Inc., which operates a 2 MW solar project near Bassano that’s currently the largest photovoltaic system in Western Canada, called the government’s request for information “excellent news” for the solar industry.
“I do believe we need that boost from government,” Kelly said. “This announcement gives that revenue certainty that investors need to get a project built.”
The Alberta government has been using 100 per cent renewable electricity to power its facilities since 2009. Currently, three companies hold the contracts to supply that power, all of which is currently generated by wind. Two of the contracts expire at the end of 2018, and the government this month issued a Request for Information to find out whether solar companies are willing to step up.
“Our intention is to test the notion that solar has come down significantly in price and that the technological innovations are a good fit for Alberta’s considerable solar resources,” said Environment Minister Shannon Phillips. “We hear this often, so the request for information is designed to see if those claims are borne out in a business case.”
Phillips said the two contracts work out to 135,000 megawatt hours per year and cost the government $ 30 million annually. She said she believes the switch to solar can be done for around the same price, without dipping into carbon tax revenues or offering incentives to companies.
“It will be a competitive bid process,” she said. “We’ll be looking for some cost predictability in that vein, and some continuity in terms of our budgets.”
Paula McGarrigle, managing director for Solas Energy Consulting in Calgary, said the cost of solar power equipment has come down 70 per cent over the past six years, thanks to technological advances and declining materials costs. She said Alberta currently has two large-scale solar farms (EDF Energy Nouvelle Canada’s 60 MW project near Vulcan, and GTE Solar’s 15 MW project near Brooks) in advanced stages of development, with a number of other projects “short on their heels.”
“Frankly, there are multiple projects that are ready for this and can be ready for the timeline they’re talking about,” McGarrigle said. “I think it ( government procurement) is a brilliant idea to start the process, similar to what they did with wind before.”
McGarrigle said while wind power is still more economical, solar is quickly catching up. She said the government’s move will not only provide revenue certainty for investors, it will pave the way for a regulatory process to oversee the growth of solar in the province.
“So it’s a really exciting announcement for Alberta. It puts us ahead of any other province in Western Canada,” she said.
Last week, the economic development group Invest Medicine Hat put out a news release boasting of its location in “Canada’s Sunniest City” and talking up the advantages Medicine Hat could offer to solar companies looking for a location to build a project.
“Medicine Hat is fit to play an important role, thanks to leading solar resources, existing solar projects and a wealth of energyrelated expertise,” the release stated.
Alberta has 12 MW of installed solar power capacity compared to 1,500 MW of wind power capacity. The provincial government’s plan to source solar for half its electricity needs could add 150 MW of installed solar capacity.
Ontario, which leads Canada in solar development, has 2,500 MW of installed solar capacity.