Brooks Solar expansion OK’d on condition of blocking people’s view
By Medicine Hat News on February 8, 2020.
A substantial expansion of the Brooks Solar facility has been approved on condition, among others, that the company shield the solar panel arrays from the view of neighbours with a line of trees. Residents near the proposal expansion argued at December hearings that the value and enjoyment of their properties would be hampered by a tripling in size of the facility that is visible from the Trans-Canada Highway on the east side of that city. Elemental Energy countered that expanding onto two adjacent quarter-sections in the area of mixed industrial and farm uses made the most sense. In mid-January the Alberta Utility Commission approved the project stating that among other things trees should line the property to obscure the panels from view and an anti-glare coating should be used. The company will have to track and file complaints about glare with the commission, which can require corrective action in future. The commission also in its approval discounted an argument from residents that solar power was not economical considering the City of Medicine Hat has decided to decommission its solar power facility. The AUC stated in its ruling that Medicine Hat’s was a “solar thermal” system, which preheated water for use in the city’s steam-powered electrical generators. The Brooks facility would employ photovoltiac panels that directly produce electricity. Brooks Solar, with a current capacity to produce up to 15 megawatts of power, was the largest solar facility in Alberta when it was commissioned several years ago. The expansion would add 28 megawatts of production capacity in peak conditions which would be fed on to the Alberta transmission grid via nearby Fortis lines. A schedule posted on Elemental’s website states construction could begin this spring. 10-9
