Shell to partner with renewables firm on solar farm at Scotford refinery near Edmonton
Shell Canada and its North American photo voltaic platform Silicon Ranch have introduced plans to construct a 58-megawatt photo voltaic farm adjoining to Shell’s Scotford refinery and chemical substances park close to Edmonton.
The photo voltaic farm will be the first in Canada to be built, owned and operated by Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch, which is 47 per cent owned by Royal Dutch Shell and constructing photo voltaic initiatives for the worldwide power large everywhere in the U.S.
Shell Canada beforehand constructed a five-megawatt photo voltaic farm at Scotford that can begin up this fall and offset emissions from the Shell-owned chemical substances plant.
The undertaking introduced Tuesday — which Shell says will start development subsequent 12 months and be operational by the top of 2023 — will probably be a lot bigger.
In an interview, Shell senior vice-president Mark Pattenden mentioned the entire energy generated by the brand new photo voltaic farm will probably be devoted to the Scotford refinery, for no less than the following 25 years.
The photo voltaic farm is anticipated to supply sufficient renewable electrical energy to supply 20 per cent of the refinery’s power wants.
“That is actually materials decarbonization, of both the prevailing merchandise we produce by way of the refinery … or it creates the chance for future manufacturing of issues like hydrogen or biofuels as properly,” Pattenden mentioned.
Shell has mentioned it needs to rework the Scotford Complicated into considered one of 5 power and chemical substances parks owned by the corporate world wide.
Inside this decade, the corporate needs to make use of carbon seize and storage (CCUS) and renewable energy to course of new feedstocks akin to bio-oils or waste oils to cut back the C02 emitted within the manufacturing of gas.
As a part of its imaginative and prescient, Shell has proposed its Polaris CCUS undertaking, that can seize carbon dioxide from the Scotford refinery and chemical substances plant, with storage capability of about 300 million tonnes of C02. Shell mentioned it is going to make a ultimate funding choice concerning the undertaking in 2023
Shell additionally has plans to collaborate with Mitsubishi Corp. on the manufacturing of low-carbon hydrogen at Scotford.
The proposed photo voltaic farm at Scotford received’t require any authorities subsidies or funding.
Pattenden mentioned as the corporate strikes ahead with its objective of lowering direct and oblique carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 in contrast with 2016 ranges, what it wants most is regulatory certainty round issues like carbon pricing and renewable power coverage.
“We proceed to look not a lot for particular coverage, however extra certainty,” Pattenden mentioned.
The Shell Scotford Complicated is situated northwest of Edmonton close to Fort Saskatchewan, in an space often known as Alberta’s industrial heartland.
The development of a photo voltaic farm close to Scotford will mark the primary large-scale photo voltaic set up within the industrial heartland, Pattenden mentioned, noting photo voltaic farms are usually constructed within the southernmost portion of the province.
However he mentioned there’s no motive a photo voltaic farm can’t produce successfully at Scotford, mentioning it is going to be designed with panels that may additionally seize daylight mirrored off snow.
“It’s unquestionably that southern Alberta is without doubt one of the greatest locations on the planet (for solar energy) however the Edmonton space just isn’t far off,” Pattenden mentioned.
“We do have shorter days within the winter, however longer days in the summertime offsetting that, and nearly as many sunshine hours as southern Alberta.”
Silicon Ranch will present the entire capital funding for the photo voltaic farm. A spokesperson for that firm didn’t reply to an electronic mail inquiry concerning the whole greenback worth of the undertaking in time for deadline.
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