Regina SaskEnergy plant 'going solar' following conversion

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SaskEnergy is moving forward with its multi-year solar conversion as the Town Border station in Regina had solar panels recently installed.

“This project is a major step in SaskEnergy’s goal to achieve a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030,” Don Morgan, Minister Responsible for SaskEnergy said in a news release.

“SaskEnergy is also focused on reducing the amount of vented natural gas, optimizing its operating practices, and improving the efficiency of its compressors and other infrastructure.”

Town Border Station, located in southwest Regina, now includes 176 solar panels. The panels will capture enough solar energy to power the station during the day, with the excess being transferred into the grid.

The plant will take power from the grid during the night.

“Over the course of a year, we expect that the station’s net electrical usage from the province’s power grid will balance out to zero,” Mark Guillet SaskEnergy’s Acting President and CEO said in the release.

“This project visibly demonstrates SaskEnergy’s commitment to environmental sustainability, and it’s just one of the ways we plan to reduce our environmental impact over the next several years.”

The total generation capacity of the plant’s solar panels is recorded as 80,000 watts.

According to SaskEnergy is enough to power lighting, electric heat, odourization and distribution of natural gas across Regina.

Work on the project was completed by miEnergy, which is a majority Indigenous-owned business based in Saskatoon.