A solar power company is considering setting up at Red Deer Airport.
David Carscadden, senior project developer at Saturn Power, said Thursday the company has been working with Red Deer County, which identified the airport as a potential solar farm site.
“We have been looking into it a little bit and we now have an option to lease the property,” he said in an interview following Red Deer Airport’s annual general meeting.
Saturn Power, which is Ontario based and has a Calgary office, will do more work to determine the feasibility of setting up a solar project.
“Ideally, if we can find an off-taker to take the power, we’ll build the project in the next couple of years.”
The size of the project would depend on various approvals, but would range from six to 14 megawatts. The largest solar power project in Alberta so far produces 17 megawatts, he said.
The company would lease about 80 acres at the north end of the airport for its solar arrays.
Carscadden said one of the benefits of the airport site is that it does not take away prime farmland.
“Typically, the land around airports is a little bit more marginal.”