The Peace Energy Cooperative is a step closer to opening a solar energy farm in the Peace Region.
The Dawson Creek-based company announced the signing of a lease with a private landowner last week.
According to Executive Director Don Pettit, the project is expected to consist of around 7,000 solar panels on land not far from the Peace Regional Airport in the Municipal District of Peace No. 135.
“We expect it to be in the 10-to-20 acre range,” Pettit tells the Trending 55 Newsroom.
“They will be on grand mount racks in a fenced-in enclosure for security purposes, and under good sunlight, it should put two megawatts of energy into the local grid.”
The Cooperative tried to do a larger solar farm by the airport by applying for a grant with the Town of Peace River, but the application for funding was unsuccessful.
Pettit told the newsroom at the time that if the organization did not receive the grant, it would pursue a smaller scale project.
Now with the land secured for the solar farm, he tells us that the cooperative will continue with its due diligence, which includes a business plan and environmental assessment.
He also says the land is ideal for solar energy.
“It’s a nice acreage with beautiful solar exposure, no shading with a slight incline to the south, and its pastureland, so it’s not like super high-quality agricultural land.”
In closing, Pettit is hopeful construction can begin next spring.
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
