First utility-scale solar power project in Sask. now online

WYMARK -

The first of four planned ten megawatt solar power facilities in Saskatchewan is now generating power for the grid southeast of Swift Current.

After a construction process that weathered both a Saskatchewan winter and COVID-19 related supply chain issues, Saskatoon-based MiEnergy and its president and CEO Kevin Bergeron welcomed the subtle whirring sound the 30,000-odd panels at the Highfield Solar Facility on the otherwise quiet southwestern landscape.

“Now that the facility is up and running on a nice sunny day like this, hearing that hum is a good reward,” Bergeron said. “As a company, we continue to build the largest solar projects in Saskatchewan. This is probably the tenth time we’ve built the largest and it keeps getting larger and larger. We definitely hope to continue on that trend.”

The Highfield array is owned and operated by Saturn Power, making it the company’s first facility in western Canada. It generates enough power for up to 2,500 homes annually.

“You have some of the best sunshine in Canada here in southern Saskatchewan, so it’s the perfect place for solar and there should be a lot more of it,” said Saturn Power co-founder, president and CEO Doug Wagner.

SaskPower then buys the power generated for the grid under a 20 year purchase agreement, instead of building a facility the crown corporation directly owns.

“One of the things about partnering with industry is they bring experiences that SaskPower doesn’t have. we are operators of the power system, operators of the grid,” said Kory Hayko, vice president of SaskPower. “We partner with folks who know and have the knowledge and the expertise and the experience to bring a project like this online.”

Highfield is close to SaskPower’s Centennial Wind Power Facility, the weather conditions at Friday’s ribbon cutting serving as an example as to why the two facilities were built close together.

“Today with the wind not blowing, the sun is shining, diversity creates risk reduction for us. Our customers expect reliable power. So we want to make sure we can continue to deliver that to them every single day and this is part of that solution,” Hayko said.

Highfield is the province’s first utility-scale solar project and went online in September 2021 with three others in different phases of construction.