Solar Power – Facilities
Application
Jurassic Solar GP Ltd. (“Jurassic”) applied to the AUC for approval to construct and operate a 220-megawatt (“MW”) solar power plant, a battery energy storage system (“BESS”) with a storage capacity of up to 80-megawatt-hour (“MWh”) and the associated Raptor 1080S Substation ( the “Jurassic Project”). The Jurassic Project will be located on 1,170 acres of privately owned and predominately agricultural land near Iddesleigh in Special Area No. 2 and Cypress County.
Decision
The AUC approved Jurassic’s application to construct and operate the Jurassic Project.
Applicable Legislation
Alberta Utilities Commission Act, SA 2007, c A-37.2 – s. 17.
Electric Utilities Act, SA 2003, c E-5.1.
Hydro and Electric Energy Act, RSA 2000, c H-16 – ss. 11, and 18.
AUC Rule 012: Noise Control.
Pertinent Issues
The AUC reviewed the applications and determined that the Jurassic Project met the applicable requirements of Rule 007: Applications for Power Plants Substations, Transmission Lines, Industrial System Designations, Hydro Developments and Gas Utility Pipelines and Rule 012: Noise Control. The AUC was also satisfied that the participant involvement program conducted by Jurassic met the relevant requirements.
Jurassic had not confirmed a final selection of all equipment for the photovoltaic solar modules of the solar power plant, the substation, or the BESS. To ensure that the final Jurassic Project does not result in greater impacts than what was considered in this decision, the AUC imposed, as a condition of approval, that Jurassic file a project update detailing specifications of the selected equipment once it has been selected.
The AUC also imposed conditions of approval regarding the site-specific emergency response plan, the maintenance of sufficient insurance coverage and the implementation of ongoing safety upgrades. These include firmware and software enhancements, monitoring capability enhancement, process changes and safety standards as they are developed.
