Open house held for solar farm project
Open House - Jason Pigeon of Scott Land and Lease answers questions from area residents on the proposed solar farm to be constructed east of Claresholm, at an open house held at the Claresholm Community Centre on Aug. 17. Photo by Lawrence Gleason
Fulfilling a requirement of the Alberta Utilities Commission, Claresholm Solar held an open house for all those interested in its proposal for a massive 880-acre solar farm to be located on eight quarters about 10 kilometres northeast of Claresholm.
The open house was held at the Claresholm Community Centre between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17.
With half an hour to go about 39 people had attended the open house.
Once the public consultation process wraps up, Claresholm Solar will make a submission to the Alberta Utilities Commission by the spring, hoping for approval by April, 2018.
“From there it is a competitive bid process, and our goal is to be up and running by September 2020,” said Daniel Andres, of Claresholm Solar.
“We are working closely with our immediate neighbours where there is in impression there is such an effect, we are hoping to resolve that with them,” Andres said, adding there is no evidence of lower property values for neighbours to solar projects.
“It’s not like wind where you can have a noise aspect, a shadow aspect, or a flickering aspect,” Andres said. “It is about a three metre height so it is not something that will obscure the view of the mountains.”
The project is estimated to cost $210 million.