Providing essential energy services to Albertans from our farmland and abundant sunlight
About the company
Energy Harvest is a new kind of project developer, providing essential energy services to Albertans from our precious local resources: farmland and abundant sunlight. Energy Harvest was founded by a diverse team of clean energy professionals – the same people that brought Alberta many of its wind and solar energy facilities. We take a refined approach to the energy transition underway and together with our landowner partners, create a new energy harvest.
About the TEAM
We are engineers, environmental professionals, and landmen. We have a deep knowledge of Alberta’s electricity grid system as well as what it takes to create the most suitable projects. We have developed some of Alberta’s largest energy facilities, spanning more than 100,000 acres of land, with the full support of local communities. We have gained the trust of our local stakeholders and have been fortunate to collaborate with committed landowner partners. Together we have ensured that our designs fit the landscape and provide reliable clean power for generations to come.
About becoming a land partner
Our farmer and rancher land partners agree to provide their land to help Alberta transition from fossil-fueled electricity sources to pristine, quiet renewable energy for the long run. Transitioning from an agricultural land use to a clean energy land use is straightforward. Hosting a clean energy project provides strong, predictable, long-term revenues with no exposure to commodity fluctuations, input costs nor unfavorable weather. In most cases, the value of a long-term solar lease is greater than the long-term net returns from crop agriculture. A lease everyone can feel good about. Grid scale solar electricity projects require upwards of one section of land. We look for lands that are near existing electricity transmission lines with available connection capacity. Not all lands are equivalent for solar development and environmental features such as birds’ nests (raptors) and wetlands must be avoided. We are looking for the lands with the largest clear areas for development, i.e. buildable area. During the operation of a solar facility, lands within it cannot be seeded and harvested with crops but are still suitable for grazing, such as with sheep. We re-seed the entire solar facility with natural local grasses to minimize weed growth. From the outside we can plant trees or hedges to lessen the visual impact of the facility on the landscape.
A modern solar facility is intended to operate between 40 – 50 years with the possibility that the facility is refurbished following its initial design life. After the facility is no longer operational, it is straightforward to decommission, returning the land to its original condition. In the case of solar panels and their supports, the equipment is at ground level, making it easy to dismantle and recycle. For pile foundations, these are generally removed altogether or cut off well below ground level. Once the facility is remediated, farming can resume immediately. Solar facilities do not pose any risk of soil contamination. Energy Harvest adheres to the provincial directives for Conservation and Reclamation as well as any decommissioning requirements specified by the local municipality.
