Westbridge Renewable begins work on fifth solar plus storage project in Alberta

Energy Storage News:

Utility-scale solar PV developer Westbridge Renewable Energy has kicked off development of its fifth solar-plus-storage project in Alberta, Canada.

The company is targeting the development of a 295MWp solar PV plant with a 100MW/200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at its Red Willow Project in central Alberta’s Stetler County No.6.

Westbridge has secured a long-term lease on the land and submitted environmental and wildlife studies for Red Willow Project, which is currently at Stage 2 of the Alberta Electric System Operator’s (AESO’s) interconnection process.

That means it has progressed beyond Stage 0 and Stage 1, which see project developers submit their System Access Service Request (SASR) and then open discussions with the grid planner and overseer AESO and transmission facility owner (TFO).

At Stage 2, an engineering study report, cost estimates and facility design are assessed, which according to AESO has an expected timeline of about 14 weeks total. In subsequent stages, the project then gets taken to the regulator Alberta Utilities Commission, facility applications are filed and then construction begins from Stage 5.

[Andy Colthorpe]

More: Westbridge adds another solar-plus-storage project to 1GWh pipeline in Alberta, Canada