Despite the weather, the town’s $1.184 million solar panel project at the Rotary Spirit Centre is well underway and is expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.
ENMAX crews cordoned off an area of the roof of the Spirit Centre at the beginning of November and have been preparing for the arrival of the panels, which came Nov. 21. In the meantime they’ve been running cables and setting up the racking where the panels will be installed.
“We’ve been shut down for a little while, just due to the cold weather, but now that we’ve got some nice weather, there’s a crane out there today,” said interim CAO Simone Wiley Nov. 21 as workers used a large crane to lift the crates of solar panels onto the Spirit Centre roof.
ENMAX project manager Joe Beetge reiterated the weather has not been cooperative, at least until last week.
“We are a bit delayed with the weather getting the solar modules up on the roof last week. The crane was there yesterday to lift the modules in place. We are gearing up our manpower accordingly to install them,” he said.
Town of Westlock council approved the final reading of an amendment to the 2019 capital budget, which will allow the town to borrow $672,967 to help finance the project, which is expected to take 15 years to pay off, while the panels are said to produce energy at a high level without degrading for 25-30 years.
The remaining $511,213 will come via the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre grant from the province to pay for the rest.
Council passed first reading of the amendment to the budget in September, after a presentation from an ENMAX account manager in June, who took them through the features, benefits and costs of installing a solar power micro-generation system on the rooftop of the Spirit Centre and curling rink.
A subsequent feasibility study showed the curling rink roof was not suitable and it was decided the Spirit Centre roof would take on the extra weight.
Under the agreement, the town will sign a debenture for $672,967 with ENMAX at a three per cent interest rate over 15 years. By borrowing from ENMAX instead of the usual municipal financier, Alberta Capital Finance Authority, which charges interest at 2.19 per cent, the company’s 15-year warranty, along with required maintenance, shrinks to a five-year warranty with the town covering maintenance costs.
The investment in 1,623 roof-mounted solar panels will generate 631 MWh of energy annually for a building that historically consumes about 1,356 MWh, or roughly 47 percent. The array will help reduce carbon emissions by about 6,000 tonnes, equivalent to powering 88 homes or taking 85 cars off the road, according to ENMAX.
“After 15 years, the economics switch from having to pay approximately $6,000 a year for additional operating money to then being able to displace your energy costs and saving between $40,000 and $50,000 in energy costs for the facility, which is huge” said Wiley in September, as council considered first reading.
The town will pay $55,747.56 annually, which will be offset by an estimated annual savings of $49,600. This equates to the operating budget seeing an estimated increase of $6,147.56 for the term of the loan.
