Pembina looks to add solar production at Empress plant

Pembina is planning to add solar power production at its Empress straddle plant to supplement a massive natural gas unit commissioned two years ago.

The pipeline company applied Feb. 2 to the Alberta Utilities commission to expand its industrial facility designation and build a 4.9-megawatt solar system at the facility in northeast Cypress County.

The company completed a 47-megawatt natural gas turbine in 2022 that produces power for internal use at the plant as well as for exports to the Alberta grid.

The process also requires permission to connect the solar facility to the plant’s power system, according to Pembina officials.

“Pembina is working to reduce our operational emissions through technology and improved operating practices, increasing our use of renewable energy and allocating capital to lower carbon investments,” reads a statement in response to the News.

The company has a stated goal of reducing emissions by 30 per cent of 2019 levels by 2030.

Wind farm hook-up

The AUC has approved a new 18 km power line to connect a planned wind farm in the county of Forty Mile to a substation nearer to Medicine Hat.

Renewable firm RES is building the Forty Mile Wind facility on behalf of new owner, Spanish firm Acciona Energia, near Bow Island, and last week received approval to connect a planned substation at the site to a substation proposed to be built by AltaLink near Murray Lake.

Last November an AUC decision reduced the size of the proposed wind farm to 27 towers located outside a five nautical-mile radius of the Bow Island Airport after objections to an initial larger footprint were received and subject to a AUC hearing.