Greengate Power Corporation is expected to be in Vulcan County Council on Wednesday, January 15.

The company is looking to complete the Travers Energy Project which is expected to be the largest solar farm in the country, about eight kilometers south of the Village of Lomond.

According to Vulcan County's Chief Administrative Officer Nels Petersen, Greengate received approval for the project from the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) in August, and are now looking to complete their final step, obtaining the County's approval.

"So right now, they're currently going through our development permit process and they've indicated that should the project get approved, they would be undertaking construction at the latter part of the first quarter this year."

While nothing is written in stone, Petersen says he doesn't see any obstacles or clear reasons why council wouldn't approve the project.

"While we've only formally started to receive feedback through the development permit process and we have been participating in the open houses they've hosted for the residents, generally speaking the feedback and interactions we've seen are positive and greatly supportive of the project." Petersen adds "A lot of AUC's requirements are things we also require in our development permit process so a lot of those areas have already been vetted by the provincial government including environmental assessments and things of that nature - those are the things that we need for our process and so far it looks like they have all of that in order."

Alberta Environment and Parks have even issued Greengate a letter of referral which states the project is low risk to the environment and wildlife.

As for economics, Petersen says the Travers Energy Project will have both short and long term effects in the area.

"They're anticipating their short term employment during construction of the project to be over 200 jobs, and then long term operational employment with general maintenance and operation of the facility will bring about 10 more positions."

Short or long term, the creation of jobs is always a positive for any community says Petersen and not only will the project bring jobs, but it's also expected to bring in tax dollars for the County.

"To the municipality itself, at it's peak assessment, the project would probably contribute more than $3 million in annual taxes."

Vulcan County has taken quite a hit in oil and gas taxes over the past four years and Petersen says a project of this scale would help them to get back on their feet.

The Travers Energy Project is a 400 Megawatt AC solar farm and Greengate Energy says it will generate emissions-free electricity to power more than 111,000 homes in Alberta.

They've also noted this project will offset more than 472,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The farm itself will house approximately 2.5 million solar PV modules, 166 inverter/transformer stations, and an electrical collection system on 4,700 acres of land previously used for grazing.

Petersen says there are a number of interested parties who are looking to invest in the area for other green energy initiatives and says this is likely the first of a few projects expected for the area.

 

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