A 400-megawatt solar array proposed near Brooks has been given partial approval by the Alberta Utilities Commission.--IMAGE SUPPLIED
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A proposal to build a massive solar farm on 16 quarter-sections near Brooks can move ahead after it earned partial approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission last week.
The Brooks Solar Farm is planned to be built on either side of Highway 36 between the Canadian Pacific railway tracks and Township Road 184 (Silver Sage Road). But, with the panel citing provincial prairie preservation plans, planned development is barred on one section of native grassland where the AUC rule wildlife mitigation would be insufficient, and the public interest would not be met.
The proposed 400-megawatt solar array is assigned a completion date of Feb. 1, 2023.
In a decision issued May 18, the AUC ruled most of the project aligned with the public good and would provide $3.2 million in tax revenue to Newell County over its lifespan.
The effect on agriculture would be marginal as applicant, SolarKrafte, planned to continue sheep grazing, and effect of neighbouring land values would be marginal.
A group of nearby landowners calling themselves the Cassilope Group argued the change of use to industrial operation would take too much irrigated grazing pasture out of production and have knock-on effects for nearby calf producers.
They also challenged whether the landowner, the Eastern Irrigation District, has the right to negotiate a lease and if the project was in contravention of the South Saskatchewan Watershed Plan. That overarching set of provincial regulations is to keep agricultural land from becoming fragmented and protect natural grasslands.
The AUC panel ruled there would be an effect but the EID, as a legal corporation and therefore private landowner, had the ability and right to manage its own lands.
Solar Krafte has developed a slate of renewable power projects in southern Alberta over recent years. It previously sold major development proposals to German-utility Innogy in 2019. The Hull and Vauxhall solar farms are now built and operated by a subsidiary.
