The original outline of the "Proteus Alberta Solar" project near Hays, Alta. is shown in regulatory documents provided by the Texas-based company. A new approval deletes sections denoted in green, which represent native grassland, but light brown denotes low-value cultivated land, where the array will be built.--Supplied Image
@MedicineHatNews
A redrawn proposal for a major solar farm near Hays, Alta. has been approved by Alberta regulators after the Texas-based applicant removed portions of native grassland from the plans.
Proteus Solar’s “Alberta 1, 2, and 3” solar farm proposals were delayed by a provincial moratorium on new renewable approvals in 2023, then the two smaller portions were approved last fall under new regulations that put greater weight on land’s environmental and agricultural value.
However, the AUC denied the largest array, Alberta 2, located between the others on land four kilometres south of the hamlet in the municipal District of Taber.
An AUC approval on April 11 confirms a new layout which removes 150 acres, or about 25 per cent of the original site plan considered to be native prairie. It maintains 830 acres in all three sections of cultivated land where soil is noted between 4M to 6M, or “severely limited” productivity. Those parcels would be leased from the Bow River Irrigation District, which has said the land consists of low-value grazing pasture.
The changes also reduce the top operating capacity of the field to 100 megawatts from the originally proposed 163 megawatts. The three projects, which the company intends to operate as a single unit, would have total capacity of 145 megawatts and have onsite battery storage capacity of 60 megawatts, or 120 megawatt hours.
According to the company, construction could begin in the autumn of 2026 and be completed in late 2027.
