Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’d prefer solar farms in cities — where they’re needed — rather than on actual farms that grow food..A prime spot might be on the rooftop of West Edmonton Mall, which would automatically be the largest in Alberta and possibly even Canada. And it would make a lot more sense than building a transmission line from wind farms in Pincher Creek to do it..“We want to avoid future lawsuits as well, so we want to make sure that marginal lands rather than on prime agricultural lands. In fact I'd love to see more solar projects on the rooftop buildings in Calgary and Edmonton,” she said..“That’s what we want to find out, that’s what we want to incentivize, more solar to be built in places where they don’t need additional transmission and distribution charges, and you've got a steward who can make sure that it’s brushed off in the winter and when the panels get broken, they get replaced.”.That was just one insight gleaned from an exclusive interview with the Western Standard’s Nigel Hannaford, who canvassed the premier on extending the six-month moratorium on renewable approvals..Smith said that while her government has no plans to make it permanent, it is considering changes that would allow for reclamation bonds and other innovative solutions — rooftop solar installations — to strike a meaningful balance between developers and landowners..“No! We’re not going to extend it indefinitely. I'll tell you what we will correct though:” she said..“Number one we need to address intermittency so if we're bringing on intermittent unreliable power there has to be an equivalence of base load power brought on, that’s what we have to figure out, what’s the mix — how much intermittent unreliable power can we have, and how much baseline power do we need to commission?”.Next is the issue of reclamation and recycling, to avoid a repeat of the so-called ‘orphan wells’ controversy. Unlike oil and gas wells, which are below ground, wind farms and solar panels cause surface disruption that has become a point of contention for landowners and environmental conservationists alike..Smith said some wind towers are as large as the Calgary Tower, and procedures need to be in place to reclaim them when they reach the end of their service lives..“We also then need to address the issue of an environmental bond. I’m told the reclamation on each turbine could be $500,000, or four so just do the math on that 500,000 site there's 50 turbines on the site $25 million reclamation project. Who's paying for that?”.“When you have companies that continue to change hands, who's left holding the bag? I'm worried it’s going to be land owners, so there has to be some reclamation issues,” she said..Smith said the moratorium should be seen as an opportunity to “get things right” rather than any kind of political interference..“Those are the main things we have to address, so once we have taken this six-month period, people wonder what the rules are and then they'll be able to make the investment decisions on that basis. We want to keep an open market.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’d prefer solar farms in cities — where they’re needed — rather than on actual farms that grow food..A prime spot might be on the rooftop of West Edmonton Mall, which would automatically be the largest in Alberta and possibly even Canada. And it would make a lot more sense than building a transmission line from wind farms in Pincher Creek to do it..“We want to avoid future lawsuits as well, so we want to make sure that marginal lands rather than on prime agricultural lands. In fact I'd love to see more solar projects on the rooftop buildings in Calgary and Edmonton,” she said..“That’s what we want to find out, that’s what we want to incentivize, more solar to be built in places where they don’t need additional transmission and distribution charges, and you've got a steward who can make sure that it’s brushed off in the winter and when the panels get broken, they get replaced.”.That was just one insight gleaned from an exclusive interview with the Western Standard’s Nigel Hannaford, who canvassed the premier on extending the six-month moratorium on renewable approvals..Smith said that while her government has no plans to make it permanent, it is considering changes that would allow for reclamation bonds and other innovative solutions — rooftop solar installations — to strike a meaningful balance between developers and landowners..“No! We’re not going to extend it indefinitely. I'll tell you what we will correct though:” she said..“Number one we need to address intermittency so if we're bringing on intermittent unreliable power there has to be an equivalence of base load power brought on, that’s what we have to figure out, what’s the mix — how much intermittent unreliable power can we have, and how much baseline power do we need to commission?”.Next is the issue of reclamation and recycling, to avoid a repeat of the so-called ‘orphan wells’ controversy. Unlike oil and gas wells, which are below ground, wind farms and solar panels cause surface disruption that has become a point of contention for landowners and environmental conservationists alike..Smith said some wind towers are as large as the Calgary Tower, and procedures need to be in place to reclaim them when they reach the end of their service lives..“We also then need to address the issue of an environmental bond. I’m told the reclamation on each turbine could be $500,000, or four so just do the math on that 500,000 site there's 50 turbines on the site $25 million reclamation project. Who's paying for that?”.“When you have companies that continue to change hands, who's left holding the bag? I'm worried it’s going to be land owners, so there has to be some reclamation issues,” she said..Smith said the moratorium should be seen as an opportunity to “get things right” rather than any kind of political interference..“Those are the main things we have to address, so once we have taken this six-month period, people wonder what the rules are and then they'll be able to make the investment decisions on that basis. We want to keep an open market.”
