Commission notified of application to build solar facility

By Lawrence Gleason, Local Press Writer

Members of the Municipal Planning Commission of the Municipal District of Willow Creek seemed a bit taken aback by a development application to the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUB) to construct and operate an 8.5-megawatt solar power plant about one mile east of Stavely. The local MPC members were informed by AUB as a matter of course.

Both Ian Sundquist and Evan Berger noted the project applied for east of Stavely was due to be placed on good farmland.

“The project east of Claresholm is to be placed on marginal land, but this is good farmland,” Berger said.

The application is for the NE and SE quarters of 15–14–27.

The applicant is Acestes Power of Calgary. The company, formed in 2016, is making notable moves in energy.

Last year, Acestes Power was approved by the AUB to construct and operate a 22.73-megawatt power plant, fed by natural gas, about 7.5 km south east of the town of Jenner, on the south-east quarter at 19–20–8, on leased crown land.

Last September the company filed an application to construct and operate a 25-megawatt solar power plant in the Vulcan area, about 3.5 km south-east of Vulcan on the north-west quarter of 22–16–24, at the intersection of Township Road 160 and Range Road 243.

Acestes is the name of a half-God king of a portion of Sicily, whose his mother was from Troy. In Greek mythology Acestes once shot an arrow into the air and it burst into flames becoming a comet.