Renewables pause ended, solar projects approved in southern Alberta

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Two southern Alberta photo voltaic tasks have been accepted since an virtually seven-month moratorium on Alberta renewable venture approvals was lifted final month.

The Alberta authorities’s pause ended March 1, with the province now adopting an “agricultural-first” strategy towards new renewable tasks and placing 35-kilometre buffer zones round “pristine viewscapes,” amongst different modifications.

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The Alberta Utilities Fee (AUC) accepted March 19 the 230-megawatt Peace Butte Photo voltaic venture, in addition to a battery storage system, proposed by Aura Energy Renewables Ltd. on 332 hectares of privately owned property south of Drugs Hat, in Cypress County.

In its choice, the fee stated the venture is a low threat to wildlife and wildlife habitat, and is located on lower-quality agricultural land.

Two days later, the AUC accepted the 450-megawatt Aira Photo voltaic Challenge, to be constructed by Aira Wind Energy Inc. on about 1,800 hectares of personal land roughly 35 kilometres southwest of Drugs Hat.

Issues raised over pronghorn migration route

Whereas considerations had been raised concerning the proposed improvement’s results on pronghorns, birds and snakes, Alberta Setting and Protected Areas supplied an “general low threat rating to the venture in relation to wildlife and wildlife habitat,” reads the fee’s report.

Skilled biologist Cliff Wallis, retained by the Farmers and Ranchers Towards Photo voltaic group, had argued throughout a listening to that wildlife researchers contemplate the world to be an internationally necessary migratory route for pronghorn, and that including a photo voltaic venture there would create an additional barrier to pronghorn motion.

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“Moreover, C. Wallis famous latest analysis means that managing pronghorn migration is important for inhabitants upkeep and that human disturbance on the panorama, reminiscent of photo voltaic tasks, results in avoidance behaviour, additional lowering the pronghorn’s migratory habitat,” reads the AUC choice.

In response to the group’s considerations, Aira proposed fence changes that may permit pronghorn to journey east and west throughout the venture. Nonetheless, Wallis stated the unfenced corridors can be inadequate to assist pronghorn motion and argued towards the venture’s approval. As a minimum, he stated, the approval needs to be deferred till an evaluation inspecting the significance of the world for pronghorn could possibly be accomplished.

“The fee accepts Aira’s proposed mitigations for impacts to pronghorn and requires a wildlife monitoring program to evaluate the venture’s impression and the effectiveness of its proposed mitigation measures,” stated the fee.

Aira’s efforts to cut back the danger to birds and snakes had been enough, the AUC stated.

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The fee famous the venture’s location presents an “elevated” threat that weeds might negatively have an effect on surrounding prairie grassland, but additionally discovered Aira’s proposed weed administration strategy to be satisfactory and that unfavourable results may be lowered to “a suitable diploma.”

“The fee additionally finds the venture’s different environmental impacts to be acceptable given the proposed mitigations.”

The photo voltaic venture is to be constructed on lower-quality, personal cultivated land, and the AUC expects the lack of agricultural use of the venture lands to be “reversible” as soon as the photo voltaic panels are not used to generate electrical energy.

Fee denies venture

The fee additionally denied one other venture final month.

On March 22, the AUC rejected an software by Kinbrook Photo voltaic, GP Inc. and Photo voltaic Krafte Utilities Inc. to construct the proposed 450-megawatt Rainier Photo voltaic farm, southwest of Brooks, on near 1,200 hectares of personal land owned by the Jap Irrigation District.

A lot of the proposed venture space was native grassland, and the AUC discovered the photo voltaic venture would have introduced “excessive dangers” to wildlife and wildlife habitat.

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“The fee will not be persuaded that the candidates’ proposed mitigation measures are satisfactory to cut back the potential environmental impacts to wildlife and wildlife habitat to a suitable degree,” the AUC stated in its choice.

All three purposes had been paused whereas the Alberta authorities labored on new guidelines surrounding renewable power tasks, which had been introduced Feb. 28 by Premier Danielle Smith and Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf. The modifications utilized to the three southern Alberta tasks, which nonetheless moved via the evaluate course of in the course of the pause on approvals.

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