(Supplied by Town of Raymond)

By David Opinko

After Raymond’s solar success, Taber could be next for net-zero expansion

Apr 16, 2021 | 6:00 AM

TABER, AB – The Town of Taber is set to look into expanding its solar energy production in the coming years.

Presentations were made to council this week by Marcus Campbell, the owner of Terralta Inc., and others in the clean energy industry.

Earlier, Campbell had taken council on a tour of the solar energy facilities in Raymond, the small Southern Alberta town that became the first net-zero municipality in the province in 2019.

READ MORE: With installation of solar carport, Raymond claims it’s officially “net-zero”

Net-zero essentially means that all electricity used comes from sources that do not emit greenhouse gasses.

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The Town of Raymond now has 2,826 solar modules on its 11 municipally-owned facilities, generating 1,252-megawatt hours of power in its first year. They had funding for a quarter of the $2.78 million initiative.

Currently, 100 per cent of the electricity used for municipal operations in Raymond comes from solar power. The town expects it to be fully paid off in 16 years. After that, they project to save an estimated $130,000 per year.

A large part of Campbell’s presentation was centred on his belief that, because Southern Alberta is one of the sunniest areas of the country, it is, therefore, one of the best-positioned to take advantage of this technology.

“We do have the best solar resources in all of Alberta and we’re pretty high up on the worldly stage as well. Our solar potential down here is incredible – there’s lots of opportunities for all municipalities across Southern Alberta.”

Taber Mayor Andrew Prokop says he was certainly intrigued by the Raymond tour which is why he and council decided to invite them to come back for a full presentation and discussion.

“Overall, it’s an exciting potential venture.”

The Town of Taber owns 26 buildings. For his report, Campbell focused on the largest ones and the ones that use the most power including the Aqua Fun Centre, Taber Arena, Curling Club, and Health Centre.

Depending on how exactly solar panels are configured and the models used, they could generate enough power for each of these facilities to become completely net-zero.

Both Campbell and Prokop agreed that, with the cost of solar PV panels coming down in price and more rebates being offered by the provincial and federal governments, it becomes more feasible for municipalities to at least consider.

“It has huge growth potential and I’m looking forward to seeing the possibilities,” says Prokop, “and I think, in all fairness, this is just myself speaking individually, but some form of pilot project would be appropriate and wise to check into it for us as the Town of Taber for our municipality.”

While Campbell has put together some theoretical financial estimates, town administration has been directed to look further into the matter and come back to council with more concrete data.