Capturing the power of the sun
Three levels of government invest in Nova Scotia solar projects
In the battle against global warming and energy challenges, even a small town can make a difference, says Berwick Mayor Don Clark.
His Nova Scotia town along with Mahone Bay and Antigonish received provincial and federal funding for community solar garden projects that eventually will put a good chunk of renewable energy into their private grids.
Premier Iain Rankin announced the province's $7.5-million contribution to the projects July 8 in Antigonish and South Shore-St. Margarets MP Bernadette Jordan announced $8.9 million in federal spending in Mahone Bay.
The three towns will provide $6 million.
“It’s important because renewable energy, that’s tied up with climate change,” Clark said. “We’re pretty sure we have to get off of fossil fuels as quick as we can.”
The community solar gardens will allow utility customers who may not have the ability or means to install solar panels on their personal property to benefit from renewable solar energy.
The project will be managed by the Alternative Resource Energy Authority (AREA), a municipal clean energy corporation collectively owned by the towns and managed by Sean Fleming.
“This project highlights the unique leadership role that municipalities can play in the clean energy transition," Fleming said in a news release. "We have the ambition to act, an unbeatable cost of capital, and the benefits are reinvested in our communities. We can’t wait to get started.”
Berwick spearheaded the AREA initiative and got Mahone Bay and Antigonish on board in 2013. The three towns are among the few municipalities in Nova Scotia that own their power utilities.
The authority built a wind farm in Ellershouse, which has boosted the towns’ renewable energy component and also has generated millions in revenue in power sales over the last five years, Clark said.
Once complete, the solar garden project will push the towns’ share of municipally owned renewable energy to more than 60 per cent from wind, hydro and solar.