Groundbreaking has been completed for the first three installations in the GP JOULE and Alternative Resource Energy Authority (AREA) collaboration. Construction recently began on the three plants at Berwick, Antigonish, and Mahone Bay in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The AREA organization, which is 100 percent municipally owned, developed and operates the Ellershouse Wind Farm in West Hants with ten wind turbines and a capacity of 23.5 MW, and has solar projects with a total capacity of 9 MW in the pipeline. Already saving 192,335 metric tons of CO2 equivalent, AREA and the communities continue to work to reduce emissions and increase their contribution to the environment.
GP Joule Nordamerica, is a subsidiary of Goldbeck Solar, a global solar company based in Germany. The Hirschberg-based company was founded in 2011 and has since become one of the leading providers of EPC solutions in Canada and expanded into the northern U.S. states. Since 2014, the company has built more than 200 MW of solar farms in Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Minnesota and New York, and already has another 500 MW planned.
The largest community solar initiative
AREA is currently developing a 9 MW solar expansion at three sites in Berwick, Antigonish and Mahone Bay in Novia Scotia - currently the largest municipal solar initiative in the country, benefiting ratepayers directly in their towns. The projects expand the region's solar capacity by 30 percent and increase the number of homes that can be powered by clean renewable energy by 1,000. The largest emissions drivers in Canada come from burning fossil fuels to generate energy. The Ellershouse project and the new solar farms will enable AREA to improve its own supply and develop its own home program as a clean heat source. The cities have a goal of reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions by 53 percent by 2030 and becoming Canada's first net-zero communities by 2050.
Helping to meet the city's electricity needs
Since its inception in 2014, AREA has generated $23 million for its owner cities and their municipal energy supply. The current collaboration at the state and local level ultimately benefits the utilities' end-users, who have little or no funds to build solar on their own properties. The Antigonish solar farm alone achieves the capacity necessary to meet 3 percent of the city's electricity needs.
The new solar parks at a glance:
- Antigonish solar farm with 2.1 MW, which will meet three percent of the city's energy needs.
- Mahone Bay solar farm with 1.9 MW, which will supply approximately 16 percent of the city's electricity needs.
- Berwick Solar Farm with 4.8 MW, which will provide 15 percent of the city's electricity needs.
Acting today for tomorrow
Aaron Long, AREA's executive director, says, "AREA's energy decisions are designed to position our communities for a sustainable, forward-looking future. A future that benefits our customers, the community and the environment. Solar energy is an excellent complement to our Ellershouse wind power plant. To make it happen, we were looking for a dedicated and experienced company to help us grow our portfolio with our vision in mind. Our collaboration with GP Joule is an essential component of our community solar projects to not only make them economically viable, but at the same time create jobs with Nova Scotia's decarbonization plans in mind."
Lenta Wright, AREA Project Development and Operations Manager adds, "Community solar projects will transform the implementation of solar in Nova Scotia and finally make it accessible to all people who want to participate. This tool will allow families and businesses in Novi Scotia to use clean energy generated in Nova Scotia at affordable prices."
Foster local economic development
"In 2020, we succeeded in entering the Novi Scotia market," said David Pichard, CEO at GP Joule. "Since then, we've been working very closely with AREA to bring these projects to fruition. They are literally community-based and a blueprint for other communities. We are committed to local economic development in Nova Scotia and the Maritimes more broadly. The renewable energy industry is beginning to grow in this region. In the summer of 2022, we opened an office in Halifax. Here, we are hiring local talent and training students through the Nova Scotia Community College network for a future in renewable energy to support the growth of commercial and utility-scale solar and storage projects in the region."
Also interesting: Subsidy-free solar park with municipal participation
The municipal utilities of Antigonish, Berwick, Mahone Bay and Riverport saw and seized the option in the early 2000s to start down the path to a new energy future. A significant move by the group was the formation of AREA with significant support from Minas Energy. From 2014 to 2017, the communities invested significantly in the development and operation of the Ellershouse Wind Farm.
Today, the wind farm provides more than 40 percent of the energy needed to the owner communities and the Riverport Electric Light Commission. The facilities are the only ones to meet Nova Scotia's 2020 standard. AREA has been developing solar projects in Nova Scotia since 2017, starting with a 1.5 MWp facility for 20 communities across the province developed through the Community Buildings Program. In 2020, AREA leveraged its collective commercial solar experience to develop Canada's most significant solar project. (hcn)
Did you miss that? Community solar market and One Health
