Solar power is lightening our emissions from operations
After a full year of generating power, the large-scale solar installation at SaskEnergy’s Town Border Station (TBS) 1 in south Regina has proven to be a shining success!
SaskEnergy’s first renewable electricity system began generating power in April 2023. In its first full year of operation, the TBS 1 solar panels performed even better than expected!
“The system was sized according to that site’s annual power consumption, so we expected that the station’s net electrical usage would balance to zero,” says Trevor Ficor, an Engineer-in-Training with our Emissions Management team.
But in our 2023-24 fiscal year, the system produced about 50 per cent more power than was used! This provided SaskEnergy with a credit of more than 27,000 kilowatt hours on our power bill.
This system is one of four large-scale solar arrays now generating power at SaskEnergy sites. We also have solar power at sites in Success and Swift Current. This year, stations in Asquith, Moosomin, Rosetown and Saskatoon will be getting solar power, too.
An Operations Manager in Regina, Neil Bernaski is happy SaskEnergy is embracing renewable electricity.
“It shows SaskEnergy cares about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and being proactive about the environment. I think most of our technicians in Operations are proud to see SaskEnergy is getting ahead of emissions,” says Neil.
In 2023-24, the solar panels at TBS 1 alone resulted in a reduction of about 32 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)! This is like removing eight vehicles from the road for one year, or driving 130,000 kilometres less.
Renewable electricity is just one of the ways SaskEnergy is working to lower emissions. As part of our roadmap to reduce emissions from operations by 35 per cent by 2030, we are also focused on system upgrades — including vent gas reduction and optimizing our operational practices and infrastructure.
