Flexahopper sees bright future
LONG-TIME LOCAL BUSINESS EMBRACES MOVE TO SOLAR POWER
A major plastic products manufacturer has become one of Alberta’s largest advocates of solar-based power.
Flexahopper Plastics Ltd. — founded 50 years ago in Lethbridge — is now tapping into southern Alberta’s year-round sunlight to provide up to 40 per cent of its electricity needs. Company president Bill Spenceley was joined Monday by Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and other elected officials to flip the switch on a 164 kiloWatt installation newly installed on the northside factory’s roof.
More and more Alberta companies are moving to more energy-efficient power and processes, Phillips said.
“It’s good business sense to invest in new technologies,” reducing their environmental footprint while creating new jobs.
Installation of the 508-panel array was handled by Lethbridgebased Solar Optix, and Phillips took a moment to meet some of the growing enterprise’s most recently hired employees.
The minister shared the occasion with Mayor Chris Spearman and Councillors Blaine Hyggen and Bridget Mearns, along with Lethbridge East MLA Maria Fitzpatrick and provincial Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous.
It’s not just large exporting companies like Flexahopper who are getting involved with green energy projects, Bilous pointed out. Municipalities and regional agencies are switching to more sustainable systems as well.
“There definitely is significant interest,” he said. “That shows the environment and the economy go hand in hand.”
Flexahopper began its commitment to green energy in 2007, Spenceley pointed out, with the decision to buy all its electric supply from Bullfrog Power, which earns carbon credits through its purchase of southern Alberta wind energy. Bullfrog will remain its outside supplier.
“This system, large as it is, will only power 35 to 40 per cent of our power,” he said.
“We continue to develop new process improvements to raise that contribution.”
Flexahopper, the province’s largest molded plastics producer, now exports most of its products to other parts of Canada and North America. Its range of about 400 different high-performance products includes agricultural, food processing, industrial, oil and gas, and aerospace applications.