With increasing interest in renewable energy and as vast solar arrays are installed, farmers are paid considerable lease money for the use of their land, municipalities get a much enhanced tax base, and as livestock and crops are produced under what can be hundreds and sometimes thousands of acres of solar panels, it provides another revenue stream for the farm. And these solar farms can produce renewable energy that can help power aspects of the provincial economy such as the relatively new industry — AI data centres. And with permanent forage production the operations helps to sequester carbon as well — many wins on the agrivoltaics score sheet.

“I believe that agrivoltaics is a diversification opportunity that could be the saviour of many family farms in Canada,” says Patrick Gossage, president and board chair of Agrivoltaics Canada. That is an organization that represents all players involved in a relatively new niche area of farming.

What is agrivoltaics? Agri, refers to agriculture and voltaics (pronounced as vol-tay-icks) refers to producing energy. It is the system of producing crops and livestock under an array of solar panels.

Producing power from solar panels first appeared in Canada on a limited basis during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Fast forward a few decades, and as the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for electricity generation declined and interest in renewable energy increased, over the past 10 to 15 years there has been greater interest in producing power through solar energy.

But as these solar projects have been proposed on sites ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand acres, there was also criticism they were often taking valuable farmland out of production. “Solar energy is not the boogeyman,” says Gossage. “And that’s the message we want to get across to all levels. Properly managed, these solar power projects can actually enhance and increase agricultural production and become diversification projects that can save family farms.”

Gossage pointed to a research project, organized by Agrivoltaics Canada on an Ontario farm of only 150 acres (fairly typical size in Ontario) that was at risk of being sold. While the “agricultural component” of most agrivoltaics projects involves livestock or honey bees for honey production, for this project the design and layout of the solar array was adjusted to create more room between the rows of solar panels. The plan is for the farm to use its existing equipment to seed and harvest soybeans and grain between the solar panel rows.

“This producer will be earning money from the lease of his land to the solar developer,” says Gossage. “And they’ll also be able to produce a crop on the farm as well. The lease itself will provide four times the return per acre than most commodities and the farmer will still be able to produce a crop.”

Gossage notes while the Ontario provincial government has ruled that solar power projects cannot be developed on prime agricultural land, that does not rule out the value of including agrivoltaics in projects to improve returns to each farm.

While most provinces have some solar power projects, Ontario and Alberta are really the major players in the solar power generation in the country. One report published in 2024, showed there were nearly 100 large commercial solar projects in Canada ranging from 150 to 3,400 acres in size. These were either operational or in development. Alberta had about 54 projects, Ontario about 37 projects with one or two each in Saskatchewan, B.C. and Prince Edward Island. For those projects where acres were cited, a partial list covered well in excess of 200,000 acres.

In Alberta, Jason Bradley, a long-time manager of a 350 head cow-calf operation near Sundre and former farm manager at Olds College is now CEO of a multi-partnered consulting company — Sun Cycle Farms — providing a range of services to the solar energy industry.

He is a strong proponent of regenerative agriculture and extends that philosophy to regenerative agrivoltaics.

“Alberta has a number of solar power projects producing power and several more in the development stage,” says Bradley. “With agrivoltaics there is a tremendous opportunity for farmers to be involved, diversify their operations and still keep agricultural land productive.”

He notes that renewable energy companies will pay at least $700 per acre per year just to lease the land for solar projects. If the producer is also interested in providing vegetation control under and between solar arrays that can be worth another $200 or more per acre. And on top of that the farmer has opportunity to raise different classes of livestock on the solar farm project to further enhance the revenue stream.

As of 2024, Alberta mandated all solar power projects over 10 megawatts (about 60 acres) must have a “farm first” plan for projects developed on Class 1 and 2 agricultural land. That means the project must include a viable agrivoltaic component. Sun Cycle Farms can provide a range of services. They work with companies to design the solar array installation, so it is well suited to accommodate farming activity. They will work with the company or farmers to provide and manage the agrivoltaic component itself. And when possible they welcome the opportunity to operate the solar plant as well as the agrivoltaic component.

“It is critical that the power plant and agrivoltaics be in collaboration with each other,” says Bradley. “Depending on the activity, the angle of the solar panels may need to be adjusted from angled, to table top, to cathedral (upright position) to accommodate grazing livestock or field operations with equipment. It helps if we can be in control of both to be able to manage timing as needed.

“Farming with agrivoltaics requires a paradigm shift in thinking for producers. With the solar installation in place, the agriculture component has to be managed within a high voltage, industrial power plant, in the midst of screw piles, cables and transformers. It is a different environment.”

Bradley is a strong advocate that solar power projects should be installed on prime agricultural land, providing farmers the best opportunity to optimize returns through agrivoltaics.

While sheep are commonly used to provide vegetation control, Bradley says projects can also include pigs, or poultry, as well as crops such as fruit and vegetable production. He also noted a research project underway involving a solar power installation owned by the town of Cardston in southern Alberta where cattle are being grazed among the solar panels. Olds College is actively involved in researching agrivoltaic options and practices.

Eric Steeves, part of the family owned Yetwood Farms near Lomond in southern Alberta is part of the Travers Solar Project — the largest solar power development in Canada. Part of their grain farm along with several other nearby family farms have leased a total of 3,400 acres to a development that includes more than 1.3 million solar panels.

Steeves was proactive in the early planning stages and diversified their farming operation to include sheep as the agrivoltaic component of the project. They currently pasture about 2,000 ewes on the solar power site and plan to ramp that up to 8,000 head over the next few years.

“This Travers project has proven to be an excellent diversification for our farm and for several other farms involved in the project,” says Steeves. He says those dryland acres included in the solar project are now earning $900 per acre or more per year just in lease payments and vegetation management fees and that doesn’t include the returns from lambs produced as the agrivoltaics component.

He noted that the County of Vulcan is also reaping the benefits. The 23 quarter sections covered by the Travers Solar Project would have generated about $10,000 in tax revenue for the county strictly as cropland, but now the solar project on that land is providing the country with $3.5 to $4 million per year in tax revenue.

“And as the province is interested in attracting new developments such AI data centres which require a great deal power, these solar energy projects could provide a renewable energy source for those type of industries,” says Steeves.

“Alberta had the foresight more than 100 years ago to develop irrigation for farming in southern Alberta and look at the contribution it is making to the agriculture industry today. We need to dream big in this province. These solar power projects provide a great deal of opportunity to farmers, to communities, and to the provincial economy while keeping agricultural land in production. We need to dream big and encourage more of these projects.”

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The 16 funded projects will reduce energy costs and increase reliability for rural Americans, who tend to pay more for energy, the White House said.

The first project will allocate nearly $573 million to Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse, Wisconsin, for four solar installations and four wind power installations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.

“One in five rural Americans will benefit from these clean energy investments, thanks to partnerships with rural electric cooperatives like Dairyland. Put simply, this is rural power, for rural America,” said agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement.

The projects, funded by the IRA’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program, will prevent more than 43 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution annually and support more than 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs, the White House said.

Rural electric cooperatives serve 42 million people, according to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

The administration in August said it was investing $2.2 billion in overhauling the nation’s power grid, which has been pressured by extreme weather events even as data centers demand more power.

Biden was set to announce the funding in Westby, Wisconsin, on Thursday alongside Vilsack.

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“After doing a comprehensive review on the agricultural impact, the AUC found there were no significant concerns for agriculture or the environment from renewables. In fact, they found that existing protections are enough to ensure that agricultural land is protected,” said Jorden Dye, director of the Business Renewable Centre, a side project of the Pembina Institute.

Renewable developments include wind and solar energy projects.

The AUC report found that even if all renewable developments were located on some of Alberta’s best land, the percentage of agricultural land lost is estimated at less than one per cent by 2041. The AUC report is the first of two the United Conservative government has asked the commission to produce for its inquiry into Alberta’s booming solar and wind power industry.

The report was released after the government removed its six-month moratorium on approvals for new projects.

Dye’s organization also reported that low amounts of high-quality agricultural land are affected by renewable energy projects. The centre commissioned a Geographical Information System report and found the largest driver of agricultural land loss is pipelines, which used 1,800 hectares between 2019 and 2021.

Urban development is also a threat.

“When you look at industrial sites and urban development, they are typically taking a large percentage of class two land, whereas solar and wind projects are using class three and lower,” said Dye.

It is important to think about the total amount as well as the quality of farmland lost, he added.

“If we look at it like that, other sites such as pipeline and industrial sites are placing far more pressure on a farming region than renewable energy.”

Dye said both the provincial government and the public had concerns about land use but according to findings from the AUC report, solar and wind projects are not taking up high value agricultural land.

“In fact, no solar project to date was on prime farmland. For wind projects, it’s only about 63 hectares that have been impacted and they only use about five per cent of their typical lease. If we look out to the future and estimate all the solar we would need for a net zero grid, one University of Calgary study calculated that it would take just 0.08 per cent of Alberta’s agricultural land to get all the solar that we need.”

Wind and solar projects are built on marginal land, using class three or below.

“In terms of where they are being built and what we need, there is not pressure on agricultural land from renewables,” Dyer said.

The AUC report examined concerns that solar and wind facilities could leave landowners and the public with bills for reclamation after the projects are finished.

“Compared to some other forms of industrial development, renewable power plant projects have well understood and relatively contained reclamation risks,” it said. “The risks associated with groundwater and off-site contamination are generally low.”

Dye said risks must be considered in context.

“Any type of development faces some type of cleanup at the end of its life.”

The renewable industry has been operating through contracts with landowners. Most of those contracts include reclamation clauses, which landowners can specifically request.

Dye also noted that renewables are different from the traditional energy sector because what eventually wears out is the equipment, rather than the energy resource itself. That means there’s a build-in incentive to reclaim the site for new energy generation projects.

“With renewable energy, at the end of life for that project, you actually just have 50 years of great data on how much energy can be generated there,” he said.

The AUC report found that most wind and solar sites are likely to be concentrated in southern Alberta.

In 2008, the Stelmach government began the process of building transmission lines to those areas for renewable energy, which concentrated the development. Now developers are beginning to look for locations outside this area, Dye said.

His organization reviewed municipal tax information last year, and found 18 of Alberta’s local governments have renewable projects within their boundaries.

“Within the next four years, that’s going to rise to 33 municipalities, up into central Alberta, as well as southern Alberta,” Dye said.

The AUC report called for more research on combining agriculture and renewable energy.

In February, when the government lifted the moratorium on renewable project approvals, it also announced new restrictions.

Under those rules, wind and solar are not allowed on Alberta’s best farmland. The restrictions also impose a 35 kilometre buffer around protected areas and “pristine viewscapes,” which some estimate would prevent development in more than two-thirds of the province, especially in the south, where wind and sun are strongest.

Others have estimated the restrictions would affect 42 wind and solar projects, which represent about $11 billion in investment.

“Sadly, there’s a large potential for negative impact from municipalities losing out on tax revenue and farmers losing a potential source of revenue for their farms that can help anchor family farms,” said Dye.

“I’d just like to highlight, it’s no accident that the highest electricity prices we see is when there’s less renewable energy on the grid.”

Dye said more renewables would reduce the price of energy for Albertans.

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If all renewable development locates on (some of Alberta’s best) land, the percentage of agricultural land loss is estimated to be less than one per cent by 2041, said the Alberta Utilities Commission report released, Wednesday, March 13. 

The Alberta Utilities Commission addressed concerns that solar and wind facilities could leave landowners and the public with bills for reclamation when the facilities are no longer in use. 

In comparison to other forms of industrial development, renewable plant projects have relatively contained reclamation risks, said the report. The risks with groundwater and off-site contamination are generally low. 

The report is the first of two reports the United Conservative government asked the commission to produce to investigate Alberta’s booming solar and wind power industry. This report comes shortly after the United Conservative Government removed its six-month moratorium on approvals for new renewables generation. 

The report found renewable power is much less of a threat to the province’s farmland than other forms of energy development and urban spread. 

From 2019 to 2021, the largest driver of agricultural land loss was expansion of pipelines and industrial sites, said the report. Other key drivers include urban residential developments, mines, wells, and roads. 

The report said the proliferation of wind and solar projects will likely be more concentrated in some parts of the province than others. 

The report also noted most of the wind and solar sites are located on poorer land. Wind farms use about five per cent of their lease area, leaving the rest available for grazing or suitable crops. 

The report calls for more research on combining agriculture and renewable energy and said that current rules are adequate to ensure reclamation.

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Last year, Alberta temporarily halted approvals of major new projects amid concerns over renewables’ reliability and land use, cooling investment in the rapidly growing industry and challenging the federal government’s clean energy ambitions.

The western province has led the country in building renewable capacity and is on track to eliminate combustion of coal for power this year, six years ahead of plan.

Alberta’s right-of-center government said the pause on approvals would be lifted on Thursday but it would from now on take an “agriculture first” approach with proposed projects.

The province will bar renewable generation projects on land it deems has excellent or good irrigation capability and will set up buffer zones of a minimum of 35 km (22 miles) around protected areas or what the government considers pristine views.

New wind turbine projects will no longer be permitted within those buffer zones.

“We must grow our renewable energy industry in well-defined and responsible ways,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement. Smith says Ottawa’s drive to cut carbon emissions could wreck the provincial oil and gas industry.

Alberta generates most of its electricity from natural gas and produces more than 82% of the country’s crude oil.

The government, citing concerns about the cost of cleaning up renewables projects once they have shut down, says developers will have to put up a bond or security.

In a note to clients, RBC Dominion Securities analyst Nelson Ng said the new rules could slow the pace of development.

The Business Renewables Centre Canada environmental group said the announcement had few specific details and would provoke uncertainty among investors.

“Taken at face value, an unprecedented 35-km buffer zone around all protected areas in southern Alberta would eliminate large sections of the province and would create a backdoor land ban,” director Jorden Dye said in a statement.

The pause on project approvals, which was announced last August, prompted four major international companies at various development stages to stop work on their plans, an industry official said at the time.

—Additional reporting for Reuters by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru.

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The Pembina Institute is offering the public an assessment document ahead of the moratorium’s February 29 closure. It includes seven criteria for evaluating the Alberta Utilities Commission’s (AUC) forthcoming recommendations on renewable energy development in the province:

• Companies’ ability to develop projects with willing landowners, 
• Reclamation security requirements, 
• Municipal government approval and stakeholder intervention process,
• Pristine viewscapes,
• Access to lands held by the Crown in Right of Alberta, 
• Access to the grid, and 
• Access to Alberta’s open market.

In a February 15 news release, the institute accused the provincial government of “unfairly (targeting) the renewable energy sector.”

“We look forward to seeing evidence that the renewable energy sector is being treated consistently and fairly with other Alberta land uses and is not subjected to stricter rules than other energy sectors that have a larger impact,” read the release. 

“When the renewable energy moratorium ends, the Pembina Institute will be evaluating if the Government of Alberta made reasonable changes, especially with an eye to the fairness of the outcomes in relation to the lack of accountability awarded other sectors needing substantial reform. 

“In doing so, we aim to understand if Alberta remains a highly attractive place for renewable energy investment and how the moratorium has impacted this.”

In August 2023, the provincial government announced a moratorium on approvals for wind, solar and geothermal projects greater than one megawatt.

The Pembina report, entitled Is Alberta’s Renewable Energy Industry Being Treated Fairly?: How to assess the outcome of the Alberta Utilities Commission inquiry into the ongoing economic, orderly and efficient development of electricity generation can be found on the Pembina Institute website.

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While the exact reasons are up for debate, one specific factor has been the desire to investigate ways to make renewable energy, particularly solar, more integrated within the province over the long term.

Specifically, there is a real concern among some in the governing party and the general public that industrial solar will displace farming and raise food prices as well as create end-of-life problems with potentially abandoned equipment.

Luckily, we can have our cake and eat it too, with the new concept of agrivoltaics.

Agrivoltaics is the simultaneous placement of food crops and solar photovoltaic systems that produce electricity directly from sunlight, while also producing a beneficial microclimate for crops. Covering crops with solar panels may not seem intuitive. However, dozens of studies from all over the world have shown that many crop yields increase when they are partially shaded by solar panels.

This is good news for everyone, but especially for Alberta’s ruling United Conservatives, as it provides a seemingly simple solution to a potentially complicated land-use debate between agriculture and energy generation within the province.

Alberta’s energy portfolio is changing rapidly. Low-cost solar energy is now growing so fast as to be a “gold rush” in Alberta.

In fact, Alberta has taken the leadership role in solar development in Canada, generating millions of solar dollars and creating thousands of jobs for Alberta’s energy workers.

Solar companies have grown so fast precisely because there is profit in offsetting costly fossil-fuel electricity. However, many in Alberta are worried that this new boom will lead to higher food costs, scarred landscapes and a repeat of costs from cleaning up after the oil and gas industry.

This particular land-use conflict between solar and agriculture has been a concern for solar researchers like myself for some time.

However, our research in the United States has shown that agrivoltaics provide higher economic productivity, energy and food yields. So much so that the U.S. Department of Energy is now investing millions of dollars to ensure America’s dominance in the field.

One of the studies in the U.S., for example, observed pepper production shoot up by more than 200 per cent, while other crops like wheat in Germany were more reserved—increasing only a few per cent—but they still produced more wheat.

Not surprisingly, agrivoltaics is slated to grow to a $9.3-billion market by 2031.

Agrivoltaics is happening in Canada already, mostly with sheep grazing between panels on marginal land. Last year, we held the first agrivoltaics conference in North America at the Ivey Business School at Ontario’s Western University.

The trade group made up of farmers and solar companies called Agrivoltaics Canada has formed because agrivoltaic farming can help meet Canada’s food and energy needs, all the while getting rid of our fossil fuel reliance and greenhouse gas emissions and the associated emissions liabilities.

Agrivoltaics will allow Alberta’s farmers to keep farming, make more money, drop energy costs and help protect the environment for our children.

To take advantage of all the profit that agrivoltaics represents for the province, our team completed a study that showed the changes to Alberta’s regulations would actually need to be relatively modest.

The simple trick is to install solar systems that enable conventional farming, so farmers do not need to change anything. By spacing solar rows out far enough that combines and tractors can drive between them, using vertical racks or tracker systems, agrivoltaics are out of the way when the farmer needs to farm. We did a study that looked specifically at Alberta’s agrivoltaic potential, which was second only to Saskatchewan in Canada.

Agrivoltaics has broad appeal. Farmers love it as it increases yields and provides steady incomes, and so do solar developers and environmentalists. Even most Americans support solar development when agrivoltaics protects farm jobs. It is thus not surprising that agrivoltaics is exploding on the world market.

Eighty-nine per cent of Alberta’s electricity came from fossil fuels, yet we published an article this year that showed that agrivoltaics on just one per cent of the current agricultural land would eliminate the carbon emissions entirely. Less than one per cent of Alberta’s farmland, dedicated to agrivoltaics, cuts all harmful emissions from Alberta’s electricity sector while making more food.

This is a win-win for farmers and consumers alike. Alberta’s United Conservatives are able to lift the renewable energy ban knowing that the environment and the food system will be protected. They should ensure that large-scale solar in the province is encouraged to be agrivoltaic.

Then all of us, regardless of party, can enjoy the conserved beauty of nature, lower-cost electricity and more food produced per acre.

Whether this will result in lower costs at the grocery store checkout is a question yet to be answered, but we can hope.

Joshua M. Pearce is the John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation and a professor at Western University in London, Ont. This article originally appeared in The Conversation.

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It seems I am not the only one to believe our regenerative future rests in water and manure.

The story was about California dairy farmers entering into long-term contracts to sell their manure to the energy industry to make biogas (also called renewable natural gas). There is nothing new in using dung as fuel — indeed people in rural areas in developing countries have always used manure as a heat or energy source, and they still do.

However, one of the concerns expressed in the article was the formalizing of manure as a commodity. I agree that it is — and a very valuable one at that. In many of the countries I have visited there was often banter about manure. People would say how you were on a lucky street if you or your neighbour had livestock and were able to fertilize gardens or fields with manure. In those parts of the world where fertilizer is not available or unaffordable, gold is found at the end of the cow’s tail, not at the end of the rainbow.

Energy companies are now building bio-digesters on farm sites. That makes more environmental sense than transporting manure and it’s also cheaper to transport gas. This isn’t a novel idea and I’ve seen these types of units on European farms.

A few years ago, the Dutch government launched a major project in which farmers could lease farm-size anaerobic bio-digesters and receive a 12-year fixed price for the gas produced. They could also sell the excess electrical energy and enjoy the benefit of keeping the extracted nitrates and phosphates and applying them to the land. These small units on farms reduced the cost of transporting manure (which requires a permit) and there wasn’t much in the way of public concern about odour. (At the farms I visited, the bio-digesters were nearly odourless.)

This is an example of not only recognizing manure as a valued commodity, but of supportive policy in the development of closed-loop solutions that start and end on the farm enterprise.

To say that we need to kill cows to reduce methane is folly. Between science and production practices, methane production has already been reduced significantly. But some now worry, according to the Guardian article that programs that support bio-digesters “could end up incentivizing farms to increase herd sizes to produce more manure” or even turn dairy farms into “feces farms that happen to also produce dairy.”

To say that treating manure as a commodity will result in more cattle production is hypothetical because all of the other elements of increased production also would need to be addressed (including water usage and environmental concerns).

So just what does society want? And why the fear about the commoditization of manure and using natural sources of energy?

The public outcry for a reduction in the production and processing of fossil fuels has been loud and long. One of the solutions is tickling our noses and suddenly there is a fear of a natural and organic product that could very well stop such practices as fracking. A little manure bio-digestion does not use millions of gallons of fresh water to extract gas, release hydrocarbons, disrupt aquifers or add pollutants to the lithosphere. And there is the measurable benefit of adding digestate nutrients to the soil, thus working toward meeting targets on the reduction of commercial fertilizer emissions.

Today we have a more fulsome understanding of the importance of utilizing biological and farm sources of fertility. To build healthy soil is, or should be, the ultimate goal.

It is the soil that feeds us, along with the animals that produce milk, meat and a wide range of critical byproducts. Soil will develop its own ecology over time and may be less dependent on the incorporation of nutrients, but one has to get to that space first and be prepared to continue with nourishment as required. As plants, animals and humans intersect in this world, we will always be drawing from those life sources — soil and water.

Everything is a source of energy. All organic waste has a high value, and the farm is at the core of the solutions for the future.

Most biomass has some property of fertility, be that kelp from the sea, human sludge, food waste or wool pellets from sheep. It is about understanding the value and the interconnectivity of one to the other.

The technology exists to create the systems needed on any scale, to reduce the release of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide in conventional oil and gas production, while maintaining food systems that address food security. It is these two culprit gases that have a long atmospheric life span and it is these gases that need to be the focus. It is important to capture methane but the urgency should reside in the reduction of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from fossil fuel extraction by creating gas through bio-digestion.

The manure on our farms is a highly valued commodity. How we move forward in ensuring its appropriate use while maintaining robust and regenerative food systems will depend on both knowledge and enabling policy.

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“Alberta is by far the fastest-growing solar market in Canada right now,” said Nicholas Gall, director of distributed energy resources for the Canadian Renewable Energy Association.

“Large corporate buyers — companies like Amazon, Budweiser, TransCanada — are seizing the unique opportunity offered by Alberta’s open electricity market to procure utility-scale wind and solar developments to offset their corporate electricity demands.

“Alberta’s really the only jurisdiction in Canada where this is possible, so demand that would have been spread out over other provinces is all accruing into Alberta.”

The province now has 12 solar facilities producing about 336 megawatts of power. There are another eight projects currently under construction that will collectively produce up to 537 megawatts of power.

“When we look at the total size of our grid at over 16,000 megawatts, that 537 megawatts is not that large, but from a newer technology standpoint, it is some fairly rapid adoption that we’re seeing in the province, similar to what we saw with wind about a decade ago,” said Mike Deising, director of communications and stakeholder relations for the Alberta Electric System Operator.

“It starts off a little bit slower, but then it accelerates.”

The Dawn of a New Energy Sector: Industrial-scale solar has been growing by leaps and bounds in Alberta in the last couple of years. So where does Alberta measure up in terms of capacity? Find out in the video below.

And that momentum is likely to continue. There are at least 87 more potential solar projects that have been proposed in the province, for a combined total of 8,000 megawatts.

Not all of those projects are a sure thing, though.

“It’s very important to note that, that does not mean they’re all moving forward. Those are projects that range from, ‘I think I may want to develop a solar facility,’ all the way to the ones where there’s actually construction happening,” said Deising.

“We don’t have the transmission infrastructure nor the need for an additional 8,000 megawatts of generation. Those are developers who are looking, they’re interested, they may have acquired land, and they’ve come to us and said, ‘We have an interest in developing a project.’”

Sound economics

And that interest is growing.

Aside from Alberta being one of the best solar resources in all of Canada, the province’s deregulated electricity market and zero-congestion transmission system are drawing investment in privately owned solar generators.

“There’s a massive amount of private unsubsidized investment taking place in Alberta today, where literally billions of dollars over the next couple of years are being invested in solar,” said David Vonesch, president of Skyfire Energy.

“They’re building these pro­jects because the economics make sense. That’s a big statement. People are starting to see that there is a good opportunity here.”

That’s largely a result of incentive programs like the Renewable Energy Procurement program the NDP government implemented in 2016, he added.

“When it announced those programs, we saw lots of interest from international developers to start getting projects ready to build. That just spurred a ton of development work,” said Vonesch, adding the time to complete a large project means the industry is only now starting to see the impacts of those programs.

“When those wrapped up, it became really clear to those developers that there was an economic case with or without a government-run procurement process.”

Now as a result, every solar sector in Alberta is experiencing a “massive boom.”

“We’ve never seen this before, but every single sector right now is very active. There’s lots of interest, and it’s growing,” he said.

“It seems like all sectors are booming, everything from your residential new construction, municipalities, agriculture, commercial, small utility scale, big utility scale — there’s lots of opportunities in all markets right now.”

• Read more: Solar energy in Alberta facing a few storm clouds
• Read more: Boom delays pilot to convert abandoned well sites to solar

Solar opportunities for farmers

And it’s really the economics that are driving that increased demand. As solar technologies have improved, their price tag has dropped significantly.

“In terms of cost, solar is becoming the lowest-cost energy source on the market,” said Keith Hirsche, president of RenuWell Energy Solutions.

“When we look at any power generation project, we look at what the cost of building the project is, what the cost of operating the project on an annual basis is, and how much power is going to be generated every year over the lifetime of the project.

“If you look at the levelized cost of energy, the upfront costs on solar are higher, but your operating costs are so low that your levelized cost of energy over that whole project lifetime is approaching the cost of just buying the coal or the natural gas without building the plant.”

Solar technology is only continuing to improve, which will mean more energy generation on less land. Hirsche pointed to Brooks Solar, which is described by its owner (Vancouver-based Elemental Energy) as Western Canada’s “first utility-scale solar project” when it came online in 2017.

“For that first project in Brooks, they’re getting 15 megawatts out of that project now and it’s on 74 acres done with 200-and-some-watt modules,” said Hirsche.

“I suspect that in a few years, they’ll be in a position where they’ll take off the old modules and put on new modules and triple the capacity of the plant without any more land.”

Those economics allow developers to offer attractive lease rates to rural landowners, said Gall.

“It’s a very reliable source of revenue,” he said. “These sites are going to be producing power for decades. If I were a rural landowner, I would definitely be interested in the prospect of those steady lease payments potentially over decades.”

Other farmers are exploring solar to power their own operations, said Vonesch.

“Agriculture and solar have always been a really good fit. Most farmers are accustomed to making long-term investments, whether it be in equipment or land,” he said. “The longer-term economics of solar are certainly looked at more favourably than someone living in a house in the city where they’re not sure if they’re going to live there in five years.”

Rural communities also stand to benefit from the boom, added Vonesch. For example, Innisfail’s new 25-megawatt solar farm generates “a good chunk of money” for the town to invest back into its own infrastructure.

“Municipalities have started to see the oil and gas tax base start to diminish, and solar and wind projects are starting to fill that gap in a meaningful way,” he said.

“As more and more individuals and communities start to see more tax revenues, more jobs, and more lease payments, seeing those benefits really helps people accept solar a lot more.

“People buy into this transition to renewable energy when they can see those opportunities for themselves.”

Solar and irrigation

That’s what’s happening in Alberta’s irrigation districts, several of which either already have or are currently exploring solar projects on their land.

“It’s taking off in the irrigated area on different levels for sure,” said Richard Phillips, general manager of the Bow River Irrigation District.

“It’s not a new technology anymore that people don’t trust. It’s proven at this point, so people are getting into it.”

The Bow River Irrigation District currently has one commercial-scale solar project on a quarter section near Vauxhall.

“Our role is simply that of landlord,” said Phillips. “We’re not an investor in the project — we’ve simply leased land owned by the district to the solar company, on which it has built this solar farm. So we’re simply benefiting as a landlord collecting very attractive rent to benefit all of our irrigators.”

The 22-megawatt project was developed under the NDP government incentive program.

“There were a lot of solar companies tire kicking — basically just looking for anybody who might be willing to provide some land,” he said, adding that they entered into an agreement with a developer for two separate projects, one of which is still in the development stage.

“We’re developing a solar pro­ject that will be owned by us to power our pump stations,” said Phillips. “That’s a 400-kilowatt project, and that will be good for the district. That will meet its energy needs basically.”

Other irrigation districts are also exploring solar energy pro­jects to power their infrastructure, he added. “I know at least one other district that’s looking at a very large commercial-scale solar project on its land as well.”

Phillips suspects that, that trend will continue not only among irrigation districts but also among irrigation farmers as the province’s $815-million investment in irrigation infrastructure starts to bear fruit.

“I know some farmers have put solar on their pivot corners to power their pump site. Talking with one of them, he’s been very impressed with the results he’s getting in terms of the power he’s producing off of panels in his pivot corners,” said Phillips.

“I expect we may see more of that in the future too. Certainly, there’s a great solar resource here. That’s why the big companies are chasing it, and we certainly can take advantage of it on a smaller scale too.”

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“I’m not taking any options on or off the table,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told a briefing when asked about a carbon tax.

Psaki said President Joe Biden believed it was possible to design a carbon tax that would not violate his pledge not to raise taxes on people making $400,000 or less a year (all figures US$).

Some Democrats, including Senator Ron Wyden, have focused on a carbon tax as a possible alternative as Manchin opposes a key measure in the spending bill called the Clean Energy Payment Program (CEPP).

That measure, which would reward power utilities for investing in renewable energy such as wind and solar and fine those who do not, has been backed by Biden to achieve his climate goals including cutting U.S. emissions by about 50 per cent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels but is effectively dead, Congressional sources say.

Manchin indicated a carbon tax was not in play.

“The carbon tax is not on the board at all,” he told reporters. Manchin, a fellow Democrat, is a centrist from West Virginia, the top U.S. coal producing state after Wyoming.

Representative Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Progressive Caucus, told reporters that a carbon tax did not come up in a meeting she and other Democrats held with Biden at the White House on Tuesday.

Under a carbon tax, the government sets a gradually rising price for each ton of greenhouse gas that polluters emit, incentivizing industries to move to cleaner energy sources.

One source familiar with discussions in Congress around a carbon tax said the Senate finance committee is weighing a fee in the range of $15-$18 per tonne of CO2 that would steadily rise over the years. Much of the revenue would be returned to consumers as cash payments.

With the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow due to begin in less than two weeks, the White House has been making the case that it can reach Biden’s climate goals even if the legislation does not have everything Biden wanted, including the CEPP.

Psaki cited a report from Rhodium Group, an independent research organization, to underscore White House confidence that Biden’s goals can be met.

Biden moved to re-enter the Paris climate agreement on his first day in office, but he had relied on Congress to deliver legislation to deliver a bulk of the emissions reductions he pledged by the end of the decade.

The back-and-forth among his fellow Democrats in Congress over his bills has threatened to undermine his efforts to reassure the world that he can deliver the U.S. national pledge to slash emissions up to 52 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

If Congress is forced to drop certain climate measures, the legislation would still take huge steps on global warming with incentives for electric vehicles and expanded tax credits for renewable power such as wind and solar, according to John Larsen, an author of the report.

“I’m much more worried about no deal than trimmed down bills,” he said.

Manchin urged lawmakers to pass the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill before the wider spending bill and in time for the U.N. climate talks that start at the end of the month.

Progressive Democrats have said the bills should be passed together to ensure that the debate on wider legislation on climate and social programs does not slip into next year, or get abandoned altogether.

“We have the trust in each other, we should be able to vote immediately on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which is a tremendous piece of legislation for the president to take with him to Glasgow,” Manchin told reporters.

— Reporting for Reuters by Timothy Gardner, Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason and Valerie Volcovici.

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