Regional solar play delayed by supply chain issue

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 18, 2022.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

A hearing into approving a controversial power line in Cypress County has been postponed, according to the Alberta Utilities Commission.

Enerfin Canada plans to build the Winnifred Windfarm, north the County of Forty Mile hamlet and southwest of Rattlesnake Reservoir, while power would be put on to the Alberta grid near Medicine Hat.

The hearing to approve the 25-kilometre line had been schedule to begin on Feb. 22, but this week the company was granted its request to delay proceedings. No new date was set.

The proposed route would be to connect the 122-megawatt wind facility from a new substation at Range Road 84, mostly along Township Road 114 to Highway 3, then to an existing AltaLink Station along Range Road 63, about five kilometres south of Medicine Hat city limits.

In the fall, Cypress County officials stated they had concerns regarding their right-of-way in the route, and how it may hamper planned county infrastructure upgrades.

Several landowners in the area also requested intervenor status at the hearing. They requested more exact drawings to determine how irrigation pivots may be affected.

Dunmore delay

Supply chain issues may delay the construction of a major solar power facility just east of Medicine Hat for a year or more, the company behind the Dunmore Solar project stated in regulatory documents.

The 216-megawatt solar array would be erected on about four quarter-sections near the junction of highways 41 and 41A. It was approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission this winter with a projected inservice date of April 2023, meaning a spring construction kick-off.

This week, the AUC granted a time extension application in which the developer, a company controlled by U.K.-based Horus Energy, stated they faced delays in acquiring and shipping components. It requested and was granted a new completion date of Feb. 29, 2024, though they still intend to complete a related substation by May 2023.

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