“At the end of the day, our approach will encourage a more diversified electricity system while creating new, green jobs for Albertans”, Alberta Minister of Energy Margaret McCuaig-Boyd said in a statement.
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With 30 per cent renewables, the remainder of Alberta’s power supply by 2030 will come from natural gas.
However, the final plan only sets aside less than 388,000 acres for renewable energy development – much of which is outright acknowledged by the Bureau as not being appropriate for the development of solar and wind projects.
“The Climate Leadership Plan will support 5,000 megawatts of new, clean energy, such as wind, hydro and solar to be built here in Alberta”, said Shannon Phillips, Minister of Environment and Parks.
In November, the Alberta government will be releasing details of an auction to screen proposals for new projects from developers, on condition that the projects are at least 5 megawatts in size and made by companies that are based in Alberta.
John Gorman, president and CEO of the Canadian Solar Industries Association, said Alberta has about 11 MW of solar power installed now, mainly in the form of small installations on rooftops, but that will change quickly with the right signal from government.
“Alberta will lead forward, not go backwards”, she said.
Warner estimated that EDF EN Canada, a Toronto-based subsidiary of Paris-based utility Electricite de France, has spent more than $100,000 over the past two years to prepare its solar project for its AUC application.
The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab has taken on the task of doing an annual evaluation the state of solar and wind power in the United States.
The Perry Solar Facility is the second in a strategic, long-range plan to install 35 megawatts of solar energy by 2018 and up to 500 megawatts of solar energy in the state by 2024, helping ensure residents have increasingly clean and diverse power sources. Earlier this week, Jewel and other state leaders announced the approval and signing of phase 1 of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, which will set aside land for both conservation and energy development.
Over the course of the four-year programme, many residents in an area affected by fuel poverty have saved money and energy, electricity has been exported to the grid and valuable learning has been gathered for future initiatives.
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Sara Hastings-Simons of the Pembina Institute environmental group said technological advances are cutting what were previously high costs for solar power and allowing it to catch up to the more established wind power industry.
