The Government of Canada is pledging over $160 million dollars in federal funds for nine solar energy projects in Alberta.
One of the projects is a partnership between Concord Green Energy and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) to create the Concord Monarch Partnership, Concord Vulcan Partnership and Concord Coaldale Partnership.
Meanwhile, Chappice Lake Limited Partnership, alongside Cold Lake First Nations, will deploy 14 MW of solar electricity generation equipment paired with 2.9 MW/8.3 MWh of battery energy storage and artificial intelligence (AI) battery dispatch software, supported by a federal investment of approximately $21 million. This is expected to create over 80 jobs.
Each partnership will deploy 15 MW/34-megawatt hours (MWh) battery energy storage systems on the sites of existing solar arrays in Alberta. The projects are supported by a combined federal investment of over $45.8 million.
While most of the solar energy plants will be located in Central and Southern Alberta, they are projected to lower Alberta’s C02 emissions by over 150,000 tons per year – roughly the equivalent of taking 47,000 cars off the road. Over 3,000 jobs are expected to be created through the projects.
“The ACFN is excited about the bright future ahead,” says Jason Schulz, Director of Strategic Advisory Services, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. “Future generations of ACFN membership will benefit from revenue streams outside of their traditional territory while further diversifying their investments and leading by example on environmental stewardship.”
These nine solar projects are funded by Natural Resources Canada’s Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program (SREPs), a $1.56-billion program that supports smart renewable energy and electrical grid modernization projects, including projects that support capacity building.
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