Co-op eyes properties in the valley for solar farms

Residents didn't want the large solar farms – in the 100 acre range – near their properties, and worried the projects could negatively impact the local environment and put certain species at greater risk.

Some of the proposed projects would require forested areas to be cleared.

Now Sudbury's Sun Co-operative has until June 18 to convince landowners in the valley to let them lease some land to build 500-kilowatt solar farms that would operate for 20 years.

“It's a totally different approach,” said the SUN Co-operative's president Arik Theijsmeijer, referring to SkyPower's proposals in Greater Sudbury.

The co-op hopes to build as many as 10 solar farms in Greater Sudbury, but they would be around 20 times smaller than what SkyPower has proposed.

Each would require around five or six acres of land to operate.

Theijsmeijer said the co-op has already been in talks with some landowners who are “very interested” to lease their land.

But to make the Independent Electricity System Operator's (IESO) deadline for submissions for its Feed-in-tariff (FIT) program, the co-operative needs to bring its proposals to city council by June 18.

“It's a very tight timeline we're trying to work on,” Theijsmeijer said.
The FIT program offers small green-power generators a chance to sell power to the provincial grid at a guaranteed rate.

The next round of applications starts July 13 and ends July 30.

Theijsmeijer said the IESO, which administers the program, gives priority to projects that submit early, as long as they meet the program's requirements.

The SUN Co-operative previously proposed building a $1-million solar farm on Vale-owned property, through the FIT program, but that plan fell through because it did not meet all of the IESO's requirements.

Now the co-op was partnered with Soventix Canada, a division of a German solar project developer, to develop its latest projects.

Soventix has worked with other green energy co-operatives in Toronto, Temiskaming and Kingston to help bring their projects off the ground, by providing technical and legal expertise.

Theijsmeijer said the co-op is still looking for more sites in the valley, with close access to hydro lines.

To learn more about the SUN Co-operative visit suncooperative.com.