Alberta is in a solar power gold rush — and there are lessons for the rest of Canada

Source: Molly Segal | · CBC NEWS · | December 22, 2022

Source: Crystal Hickey

Growing up near Fort McMurray, Alta., Randall Benson started working in the oilsands like many of his family members. However, in the mid-1990s, the long hours and ecological impacts of the industry had him rethinking his occupation. 

"I just found it counterintuitive to how I was raised to respect our environment, and so I made a decision to find something that was kind of opposite," said Benson, now 52. 

The "opposite" turned out to be solar energy, which he learned about while flipping through a magazine after moving to Edmonton.

About 25 years later, Benson is pleased to see utility-scale solar projects booming — a welcome addition to the residential and community solar installations his company, Gridworks Energy, builds. Benson is working on a project commissioned by the Métis Nation of Alberta, of which he is a member, designed to generate enough power for 1,200 homes. 

It's part of a renewable energy boom in a province world-famous for its oil reserves. 

There's "almost gold rush-level activity for solar" in Alberta, said Sara Hastings-Simon, assistant professor at the University of Calgary and an expert in energy and climate policy. "The majority of solar that we have in the system in Alberta today was installed in 2021-2022. So this is a really very recent phenomenon." 

According to research by Hastings-Simon and colleagues, in 2021, renewables — solar, wind and hydro combined — accounted for 14.3 per cent of electricity on the Alberta grid, compared to less than three per cent in 2002. She expects that number to increase for 2022. 

Hastings-Simon said multiple factors helped create the conditions for this growth in solar power.