Regina selected as site of province’s next utility-scale solar power facility

Saskatchewan’s second 10-megawatt solar facility is to be built in Regina.

SaskPower announced Wednesday it had selected a proposal from Kruger Energy Saskatchewan Solar to build the facility in northeast Regina. Kruger’s proposal was selected from among 17 sent to SaskPower.

Construction is slated to begin in 2021, with the facility expected to be up and running by as early as the end of that year.

When completed, the Foxtail Grove Solar Power Facility will have a capacity of 10 megawatts. According to SaskPower, that’s enough clean energy to power more than 2,600 homes.

“SaskPower is pleased to work with Kruger on this project to help further our commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030,” Kory Hayko, the Crown corporation’s vice-president of transmission and industrial services, said in a media release.

“We are committed to managing emissions as we work to meet the generation needs of a growing Saskatchewan — and increasing renewables will help us reach that goal.”

The factors considered in the proposals included price, environmental site characteristics, Indigenous participation and community engagement plans.

Kruger’s price, which included the cost of connecting the facility to the SaskPower grid, is about $74 per megawatt hour.

The company will build, own and manage the facility and will sell the power produced to SaskPower over the course of 20 years.

The province’s first solar project, Highfield Solar, is currently under construction near Swift Current. It also is slated to come online before the end of 2021.

The hope is the projects will help SaskPower reach its stated goal of adding 60 megawatts of solar power to the province’s power grid in the coming years.