Saamis Solar purchase proposal hits public feedback phase

By Medicine Hat News on November 9, 2024.

@MedicineHatNews

A public comment period is now open on the issue of whether the City of Medicine Hat is qualified to buy a major solar power proposal inside city limits.

Saamis Solar would cover 1,600 acres of land north of Crescent Heights when it is fully built as planned by private green-power developer DP Solar.

In late August, the City of Medicine Hat announced it had a conditional sale agreement to buy the facility from the Irish-based company, and is now applying to the Alberta Utilities Commission to approve the transfer of ownership.

Written submissions will be accepted from affected parties until Nov. 22, at which time, the AUC could issue a ruling or schedule further consultation and hearings.

The city is seeking two things in the application process.

The main component is a request for ownership transfer from DP Energy, which moved the project through the general approval process this year, and also alter that permit to allow the 325-megawatt capacity project to be built in phases.

A second request asks for an initial opinion of how any added renewable energy would affect the city’s power generation charter, which caps its production capacity at levels to meet demand within its internal franchise area, essentially local customers.

Adding a 75-megawatt first phase would bring the total potential generating capacity of combined city assets to 374 megawatts, including 299 megawatts from gas- and steam-fired turbines.

That current level allows the city to meet theoretical high demand points of customers in the city, Redcliff and portions of Cypress County, with readily dispatchable power and backup capacity.

The city’s application argues that solar would augment the current gas-fired power capacity, which would remain unchanged. The city’s position is that the cap calculation should only consider readily dispatchable power.

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