Irrigators eye hydro-power storage

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on November 22, 2023.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

An electricity co-op owned by irrigation districts is planning to add a battery storage site to a hydro power facility it operates near Raymond.

Irrican Power Ltd. is owned by the Raymond and St. Mary’s irrigation districts to manage three small-scale hydro generating stations at drops along the canal system and the Raymond and Chin reservoirs.

Next week, an open house in Raymond will outline a plan to build a 15-megawatt battery storage system six kilometres south. According to the public notice the lithium-ion system would store power from the Irrican facility as well as the Alberta grid then release it at times of high demand and higher prices.

More information on the project and the Nov. 30 open house in Raymond is available on the SMRID website.

New name for major green developer

The company behind several major renewable power projects in southern Alberta is changing its name.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners announced Tuesday it will operate in Canada as Horizon New Energy, and the independent power producer will be based in Calgary.

“Canada is in the midst of a significant build-out of renewable energy to meet Canada’s ambitions of decarbonizing the electricity grid by 2035,” said Horizon director Shannon Wever, a former Enmax executive. “I’m excited by the opportunity to leverage CIP’s industrial experience and financial capacity in Horizon’s development efforts.”

Last week the company announced construction had begun on the 86-turbine Buffalo Plains wind farm in Vulcan County and a related power purchase agreement with Amazon.

It is also an investor in the Aira Solar farm Proposal in the County of Forty Mile.

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