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News Local News Photo: Vulcan Advocate file photo
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Vulcan County’s Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) has approved a development permit for a solar energy project northwest of Mossleigh.
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Georgetown Solar Inc.’s 230-megawatt project, along with a battery storage component, was approved at the MPC’s Jan. 11 meeting.
The layout of the planned site includes approximately 433,000 bifacial solar panel modules on a fixed tilting support, a battery energy storage area consisting of 84 energy storage containers for lithium-ion phosphate batteries, 21 power conversion stations with two inverters and one transformer each, and two auxiliaries. reads the report of the transformers. The project is located in seven quarters.
The implementation of the solar power plant also included the construction and operation of the new Mossleigh substation, which would be located in the north-west corner of the project boundary.
“The substation and associated components are not something our development authority contemplated and therefore were left out of this application,” Vulcan County development specialist Alena Matlock said in the report.
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The project covers about 1,100 acres, but only 547 acres will be part of the permanent project. The areas where the solar farm infrastructure is located will be fenced off from the rest, Matlock writes.
Georgetown Solar applied to the Alberta Public Utilities Commission in March 2022 and received approval for the project on November 2.
Vulcan County attended the hearing in a “limited capacity” and raised concerns about soil erosion and weed control, Matlock wrote.
“Vulcan County’s experience with renewable energy development appears to have recurring and specific challenges, particularly with soil wind erosion and weed control,” Matlock wrote.
Georgetown has indicated in its conservation and reclamation plan that it will take special erosion and weed control measures.
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“Soils will be protected from erosion by retaining crop/stubble residue prior to and during construction, over which construction traffic will travel,” says Georgetown Solar. “Once the crop is harvested, a stubble assessment will be completed to determine if there is enough stubble remaining or if a cover crop is needed to increase soil protection. In limited cases where soil is damaged, salvaged, or stockpiled, soils shall be protected by temporary vegetation with annual species, erosion control mulches, or any combination of erosion control methods as a system appropriate to the situation.”
Georgetown Solar conducted extensive public consultation for the program, Matlock wrote.
“Stakeholder concerns were related to weed management and control, decommissioning and reclamation, increased traffic, human or livestock health risks, environmental impacts and visual/aesthetic impacts. At the end of the public consultation period, five of the approximately 23 landowner participants indicated that Georgetown’s responses did not adequately address concerns about the project’s location.”
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