Brooks Solar Farm approved for construction

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Vauxhall Advance

Southern Alberta Newspapers

A German renewable power producer with a large presence in southeast Alberta has purchased another solar power proposal in the region.

The Brooks Solar Farm is approved to be built on 16 quarter-sections of land on either side of Highway 36, west of Brooks.

This month, the Alberta Utilities Commission announced it will consider transferring ownership from original proponent, Alberta firm Solar Krafte, to Beargrass Solar, a wholly-owned Vancouver-based subsidiary of global utility developer RWE.

RWE previously purchased Solar Krafte projects Prairie Sunlight II and III, renamed to Hull and Vauxhall when completed north of Taber in 2020. The acquisition was completed by RWE-related firm Innogy.

Solar Krafte will remain the developer of Brooks project, according to correspondence posted by the AUC related to announced virtual hearing later this month on the transfer.

RWE is also the owner of the Wrentham Solar Project, in the county of Warner. That was another proposal by Solar Krafte, which has also sold projects in Strathmore and Enchant to Edmonton-based Capital Power.

Last summer the “Brooks Solar” project received AUC approval with conditions to remove sections of native grassland from the project boundaries.

RWE has a stated two-year old goal of spending about C$7.5 billion per year to build production capacity over the next decade in North America, Western Europe, Poland, Turkey, Japan and China.