New urban solar plan in Brooks before the AUC

Posted on November 21, 2024 by Vauxhall Advance

Southern Alberta Newspapers

PACE energy has renewed its application to build the “Salt Flats” solar project inside the city limits of Brooks.

The 27-megawatt, 125-acre project was put before the Alberta Utilities Commission in late 2023, but was suspended so the company could include a final stakeholder engagement report.

A new application was announced in late August after the original application was held abeyance while portions were completed.

Claude Mindorff, the head of Pace, has told Southern Alberta Newspapers the private-sector project would provide a new recreational trial, plus municipal tax revenue while working an alkaline patch of ground with specialized agricultural production.

The array would cover 125 acres over portions of two quarter-sections west of 12th Street, across a gravel road from an existing residential subdivision to the east and an irrigated field and the Bow Slope feed lot to the west.

PACE plans to instal a hedged barrier and walking path to act as a buffer to existing housing. City officials have suggested the parcel is not in long-term development plans for housing considering the expense to service the land.

The array would provide power to the Fortis electric grid, located nearby.

The company says the project would also create 60 to 100 jobs during construction and two permanent operating positions, as well as pay an estimated $230,000 per year in municipal property taxes.

The project is unrelated to the Brooks Solar facility, located near the Trans-Canada Highway in the city and owned by Elemental Energy.