Aldersyde could be home to a solar farm as early as the summer of 2022.
TC Energy has proposed the Saddlebrook Solar + Storage project for the land it owns south of the hamlet of Aldersyde on Highway 2A and Township Road 200, where the temporary Saddlebrook community was housed after the 2013 flood.
The project would generate 102.5 megawatts (MW) of solar energy, enough to power about 30,000 homes, and result in an estimated 115,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, the equivalent of removing about 25,000 cars from the road.
Saddlebrook will be comprised of bifacial solar panels, double-sided panels capable of generating energy on either side, said Michael Edwards, TC Energy’s project manager for the installation.
“The front side of the panel will generate electricity from direct sunlight, while the rear side of the panel would generate electricity from indirect sunlight,” said Edwards in a presentation to Foothills County council on May 5.
Indirect sunlight collected by the dark side of the panel would be reflected off the native grasses below, or snow in the winter months. To a smaller extent, light could also be captured from solar panel rows behind, he said.
Bifacial panels present a distinct advantage in the winter, he said.
“They will be able to generate quite a bit of energy during the winter months as well,” said Edwards. “There have been a number of studies that have been done on the bifacial solar panels assisting with the shedding of snow on the front side of the panel as well, as they operate warmer than a typical solar panel would in the winter.”
He said the Aldersyde location is ideal for a large-scale solar power installation as Alberta has documented some of the highest levels of radiance (sunlight energy) in Canada.
Calgary and Edmonton have been measured at the same level of radiance as Sydney, Australia, and Aldersyde shows higher levels than either major city, he said.
“It’s quite a good resource in this particular area,” said Edwards. “The more sunlight, the more energy that is generated by this particular facility."
He said as far as municipal policies, the land is already zoned industrial in the Highway 2A corridor, and a noise study revealed no residences in the area would be impacted by the amount of noise generated by the project.
The panels also have a longer lifecycle than typical installations, lasting about 30 to 35 years rather than the typical average of 25 to 30 years.
Solar panel installation would be the first phase of the Saddlebrook project, targeted for the second quarter of 2022 after provincial and municipal approvals are met in 2021.
The second phase of Saddlebrook Solar + Storage is a battery energy storage system supplied by U.S.-based company Lockheed Martin. The storage would be a long-duration GridStar Flow system, set to be constructed in 2023 and in-service by the beginning of 2024.
“This is designed to be a durable, flexible, and safe energy storage system,” said Edwards. “The battery will have enough output capacity, up to 6.5 MW, a duration of up to eight hours.”
Both phases of the project use inverter technology to convert electricity into alternating current, he said.
The solar panels will be connected to combiner boxes, which will carry energy to medium voltage stations. From there, a converter will create an alternating current from the direct current to suit the Alberta grid.
Medium voltage transformers will then step up the voltage to the same as the substation output to match Alberta’s electricity grid, said Edwards.
He said the $45.4-million project has been partially funded by Emissions Reduction Alberta, which has contributed $10 million.
“The funding targeted technologies that were demonstrating potential to reduce GHG emissions in Alberta and secure the province’s success in a low-carbon economy,” said Edwards.
Coun. Delilah Miller expressed some concern with a lack of solar panel reclamation programs in Canada, a point she has made during discussions around solar installations at municipal facilities in the past.
“Alberta and Canada still does not have a recycling program for any green energy,” said Miller. “One of the solutions to that different municipalities and we have talked about in Foothills as well was putting some fund aside for future recycling costs.
“I’m wondering if your company has thought of that or if you have some money you would put aside as a bond towards recycling.”
Edwards assured council TC Energy, as a corporation, would have funds available to cover the costs of decommission at the end of the project’s lifespan, adding one of the requirements for the Alberta Utility Commission application, which approves and monitors energy projects in the province.
With an anticipated life of 30 to 35 years, he said there’s good chance something will be in place by the time the Aldersyde solar panels are ready for decommission. A number of similar-scale solar installations have been erected in Ontario in the past few years, which could drive the need for a recycling program in the next two decades, he said.
“As some of those facilities need to be recycled, I would imagine there would be some kind of recycling facilities that do get developed,” said Edwards. “Basically without a need at this point there’s not really a market for it.”
Cole Thomson, provincial and community relations representative for TC Energy, said the feedback and engagement with the public has been informative to-date. An online open house held in April saw comments about economics, environmental and social considerations, as well as technical questions, he said.
“We really appreciate the amount of feedback and interest we’ve had from the community on this project so far,” said Thomson.
More information and project details can be found on the TC Energy website.
