The Watch
LATITUDE
IS ONE SOLAR FARM ONE TOO MANY FOR EDMONTON’S RIVER VALLEY?
post-secondary institutions. Critics argue that the site should remain undeveloped because it’s rich in buried Indigenous Peoples’ artifacts and home to a variety of wildlife (including eagles, coyotes, gophers, and ungulates). EPCOR is addressing some of those concerns in revisions made to the plan. It was required to do so, in order to get approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission, and Alberta Culture and Tourism. EPCOR recently told city council its revised plan will incorporate Indigenous history and culture at the site, after consultation from local groups, as well as enhancements like trails, lookouts, and a footbridge across the river to a viewing platform. EPCOR is also making changes to protect the environment, such as adding a 40-metre buffer zone for wildlife—it would include natural vegetation at the south end of the solar array—and setting the solar panels back 100 metres from the river. The go-ahead from the city requires a development permit, rezoning, and amendments to the appropriate area development plan. If EPCOR succeeds on those counts, work on the solar array could begin and wrap up in 2020.
Vast and largely unsullied, Edmonton’s river valley system covers some 7,400 hectares, making it 22 times the size of New York’s famed Central Park. Here you’ll find 22 ravines, 11 lakes, and more than 160 kilometres of maintained multi-use trails. But what you won’t find is much industry, because the city has resisted putting it in the valley for decades. That could change, particularly if EPCOR convinces the city (its only shareholder) that a proposed solar farm is worth a considerable deviation from past practice. The utilities company wants to build a 23-hectare, $26-million solar farm in the river valley. EPCOR hopes to place up to 45,000 solar panels next to its E.L. Smith water treatment plant on land it owns in west Edmonton, near Anthony Henday Drive. Although the solar farm could be built elsewhere, the utility argues that costs are far lower if it’s built next to the plant. To leverage the solar array's effectiveness, EPCOR has landed $12.6 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments for an accompanying microgrid and an energy storage system using battery technology. This would help the farm adapt to fluctuating amounts of sunshine. The first of its kind in Canada, the system would also offer research and teaching opportunities for
CALIFORNIA FIRE-DAMAGE REBUILD COUNTS ON ALBERTA CONTRACTS
Alberta, obviously, has harrowing wildfire stories of its own. This spring, reminders of the dangers were plentiful, especially near High Level, Slave Lake, the Bigstone Cree Nation, and other northern Alberta communities. Still, the situation could be worse, as the saying goes. Take northern California’s Camp Fire, for example. It killed at least 88 people but many others are missing. It destroyed 14,000 homes and charred an area the size of Chicago. It was the most destructive in California’s history. Here’s where the two stories, ours and theirs, intertwine. Two APEGA permit-holding companies are
heading south to help clean up and restore Paradise, California—a community obliterated by the fire. Black Diamond Group Ltd. has won a nine-month, $20-million contract to supply portable housing units. They’ll contain $70-million contract to supply 390 temporary structures. These will be used as dormitory, kitchen, laundry, and recreation facilities. The company will also provide camp services such as food, housekeeping, and security. 1,584 beds for workers rebuilding Paradise. ATCO will be there, too, on a nine-month,
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