Sun smiles on Kimberley solar farm
Project was started as a proof-of-concept exercise
The builders of British Columbia’s first grid-scale solar power plant in Kimberley named the project SunMine owing in part to its location on a former mine site. But the operation is also finding more sun to mine, exceeding initial expectations for electricity production.
SunMine is small, just over one megawatt of generating capacity, but since turning on the switch in June, the experimental facility has delivered enough electricity to BC Hydro to power about 275 homes, considerably more than expectations it would produce power for 200 homes.
“I’d say it’s operating at or a little above its designed potential,” said Kevin Wilson, Kimberley’s economic development officer, “so as far as surprises, I think we’re happy there are no surprises.”
Kimberley is one partner in a consortium that put the $5.3-million project together. The others are landowner Teck Resources Ltd., the Columbia Basin Trust and Southern Interior Development trust. Nonprofit renewable energy firm EcoSmart contributed research and data.
Construction on the facility started last fall as a proof-of-concept exercise for solar power in B.C. where, to date, it has been a microscopic factor in a province dominated by hydroelectricity.
They are selling the power its solar panels generate to BC Hydro on a contract under the utility’s standing offer program, which it uses to purchase small amounts of electricity by independent power projects at set prices.
Wilson said SunMine’s business case is helped by the fact it is the first in Canada using trackers — sophisticated sensors hooked up to mechanisms on the solar units capable of moving them independently to best catch the sun.
“You can really see it perform on cloudy days,” Wilson said, watching the units turn and pivot to find an optimal position.
“But as the sun breaks through the clouds, it’s like gravity — they all get pulled toward the sun and align pretty quickly.”
The system also allows SunMine to optimize its power generation at sunrise and sunset, times when electricity demand in B.C. is highest and BC Hydro will pay a premium for the electricity.
The base rate that the utility pays SunMine is 11 cents a kilowatt hour, Wilson said, with 20-per-cent extra for power delivered during high-demand periods. Wilson said at those rates, SunMine is hoping to generate net income of $50,000 to $100,000 annually.
The site has room for expansion, Wilson said, and they could build up to seven megawatts of solar generation without having to upgrade the transmission infrastructure left over from the facilities of the Teck-owned former Sullivan Mine.
EcoSmart president Michel de Spot, who scoured B.C. weather data looking for potential solar sights, prodded Kimberley into taking on the initiative, which it did in part to promote the community as a centre for innovation, said the city’s chief administrative officer Scott Sommerville.
And the project appears to have at least sparked more discussion about solar power in B.C. Since SunMine announced its intentions last year, BC Hydro has “had a handful of developers” inquire about possibilities to build solar, including colleges and First Nations, said spokeswoman Mora Scott.
Randy Reimann, BC Hydro’s director of energy planning, said the utility’s planning work estimates that on cost, solar is still about a decade away from being competitive with the utility’s customer rates.
But they are seeing an increase in the number signing on to its net-metering solar program, which allows residential customers to plug home solar systems into its distribution system. Homeowners with solar panels sell excess electricity to BC Hydro, which gives them credits that offset their electricity bills.
BC Hydro statistics show 450 customers on net metering with the capacity to generate about two megawatts of electricity.
As with hybrid cars, Reimann said, buyers of solar panels spend more upfront, with an uncertain financial payback.
“But it’s more efficient and better for the environment,” he added.