EJQ1 - Summer 2024 - Journal - Page 10
of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz issued the following
statement.
working on a study that aims to analyze the opportunities and challenges for
improving electrical production and distribution across Canada.
“For over two years, provinces, utilities, businesses and Canadians have
demanded federal electricity regulations that reduce emissions without
sacri昀椀cing a昀昀ordability and reliability. Yet the federal government has
stubbornly stuck to its plans to implement unrealistic targets for a netzero grid by 2035, regardless of the costs and risks to Albertans.”
While Canadians wait for decision-makers to ramp up e昀昀orts more
con昀椀dently and consistently it’s up to developers and project managers to
overcome limitations on a project-by-project basis.
Meanwhile, others are pushing for a broad suite of options, including
small modular nuclear reactors, equipping gas power plants with carbon
capture technologies, bioenergy and energy e昀케ciency.
Solar remains the bright light in the renewables market. Due to its superior
economics solar has scaled up faster than any other power source in history.
Despite the confusion about how best to green the grid, one thing is
clear: those who make the transition to clean energy will also get a
big payo昀昀. The Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA)
estimates that the renewable energy industry represents a $50+ billion
investment opportunity, as Canada requires the deployment of 30+ GW
of new wind and solar energy by 2030 to meet its net-zero targets. (To
contextualize this amount, producing one GW of electricity requires
2.4 million solar panels or 310 wind turbines.) CanREA is currently
Overcoming development obstacles with strategic consulting
Canada’s largest solar facility is the Travers Solar Project in Vulcan County,
Alberta. Anna Kozicky served as Stantec’s project manager. Her teams
designed the solar array (electrical) and the site grading, and she was
responsible for ensuring the team completed their design and deliverables.
“An interesting fact about the project is that it was
designed entirely during COVID-19 restrictions,”
explains Kozicky. “So, we worked exclusively from
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW
WIND AND SOLAR
our home o昀케ces. It was a memorable experience as
ARE GROWING FASTER
THAN ANY OTHER SOURCES
our design team was located across Canada, from
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • Q1 2 02 4 • P AGE 1 0
