Skyline Clean Energy Fund enters Alberta solar market: acquires solar development project

Posted on 29 November 2022 by Prairie Post

GLOBE NEWSWIRE

On October 31, 2022, Skyline Clean Energy Fund acquired a ground-mounted solar development project through the purchase of 100% of the shares in 2289994 Alberta Inc.  

The project will be located at 202082 Range Road 174 Newell County, southeast of the Town of Bassano. 

Once complete, the asset is expected to total 12,000 KW/DC(1), or 12 MW/DC (2), in size and have an Expected Annual Generation(3) of 17,621 MWh4, which is equal to providing electricity to approximately 2,890 homes each year.(5) It is expected to be operational by the end of 2023. 

“We are thrilled as this is SCEF’s first investment into the Alberta solar market, and hopefully the first of many. This is also our first investment in a non-operational project (i.e., shovel ready development),” said Rob Stein, President, Skyline Energy.  

“SCEF’s foundation in Alberta is being strengthened with this acquisition and we will continue to look for new clean energy assets that align with our investment strategy in order to provide even more value to our Unitholders.” 

This project will be connecting to the FortisAlberta distribution system and has obtained all required environmental, AUC, AESO and development permits/approvals and was jointly developed by Alberta-based Irricana Power Generation and SunAlta Power. 

“We are proud to have diligently worked in partnership with Irricana Power Generation to ensure that this project has achieved all regulatory milestones and commercial objectives through a challenging period of time.  We are excited to know that Skyline Clean Energy Fund, a company committed to investing in sustainable growth in Alberta, will take the final step and construct the project, bringing it to life,” said Jim Goldmann, Co-founder, SunAlta Power. 

Skyline Clean Energy Fund now comprises 78 clean energy assets in two provinces: 76 solar assets and two biogas facilities, which together total 41.887 MW/DC, 184,000 tonnes in annual Organic Waste Capacity and 224,000 GJ in expected RNG production per year.(6) Together, these assets have a total Expected Annual Generation of 119,691.48 MWh.   

(1) KW/DC: Kilowatt of direct current energy; a unit measurement of the output of power.   

(2) MW/DC: Megawatt of direct current energy; a unit measurement of the output of power.   

(3) Expected Annual Generation is the expected kWh of electricity produced from solar and the expected GJ of energy produced by biogas assets converted to kWh. It is calculated as an expectation of annual output based on analysis of either (or both) actual historical generation and IE projected inputs, including system efficiency and historical weather data. This figure is expressed in accordance with the Fund’s percentage ownership of the assets.   

(4) MWh: A measurement of energy usage; the amount of energy one would use if keeping a 1,000-kilowatt machine running for an hour.   

 (5) The number of powered homes equivalency figure is calculated by dividing the Expected Annual Generation of the asset(s) by the average electricity use per Ontario household. The average electricity use per Ontario household is determined through Natural Resource Canada’s data on the total electricity consumption of the Ontario residential sector, divided by the total number of Ontario households.   

(6) Skyline Clean Energy Fund’s total MW/DC (solar) and annual Organic Waste Capacity (biogas) figures are expressed in accordance with the Fund’s percentage ownership of the assets.