Alberta's utility regulator has given its approval to a new solar power plant and allowed alterations to a proposed gas-fired project in the province.
The Alberta Utilities Commission gave the all-clear to Greengate Power Corp.'s proposed 400-MW Travers Solar Project in the southeastern portion of the province. The regulator also approved a substation near the village of Lomond, Alberta, which would connect to the provincial grid through Altalink Management Ltd.'s transmission network. No objections were raised to the application, the commission said in its Aug. 26 decision. (Alberta Utilities Commission Decision 24502-D01-2019)
In a news release Aug. 27, Greengate Power said its investment in the Travers project will total about C$500 million. Construction is expected to begin next year, with operations expected in 2021.
In a separate decision on the same date, the commission approved changes to proposed generators at Maxim Power Corp.'s H.R. Milner facility in Grande Cache, Alberta. Maxim had asked to be allowed to change the design of the first phase of its M2 power plant to a single 205-MW gas turbine from a proposed 170-MW gas turbine and separate 90-MW steam turbine. The M2 power plant, initially planned with a capacity of 520 MW, would have a revised capacity of 465 MW. The second phase of the project, which was identical to the first as initially proposed, would remain unchanged.
Maxim told the commission the changes would help enable dual-fuel capacity at its adjacent M1 plant, which was originally designed to burn coal sourced from a nearby mine. The first phase of M2 is slated to go into service in early 2020, while the second phase would go online in late 2023. Maxim said Aug. 27 that it had entered into an engineering, procurement and construction contract valued at C$83 million for the first phase of M2. (Alberta Utilities Commission Decision 24632-D01-2019.)
