Estevan is getting not one, but two solar facilities.
ESTEVAN – SaskPower held a two day open-house regarding at proposed 100 megawatt solar facility on Oct-26-27 at the Estevan Legion Hall.
In actuality, it’s not just a single project of 100 megawatts, but two projects – a 100 megawatt solar facility and a secondary, up to 10 megawatt pilot project.
The 100 megawatt facility is to be built on seven quarters of land approximately 10 kilometres southwest of the Boundary Dam Power Station. While SaskPower has large swaths of reclaimed mine land in the area, this block of farmland was chosen because it was undisturbed. Building on disturbed land would mean the foundations would be more costly.
It’s seven quarters of land in total, 1,120 acres or 453 hectares. The land has been optioned, but has not yet been purchased. It falls within the southwest corner of the RM of Estevan, Township 1, Range 9, west of the second meridian.
And, of course
As for Estevan, when asked “What do you do when the sun goes down?” the SaskPower official said, “You don’t generate any solar power.”
Just ridiculous.
Does this region get hail? What then?
Does Sask ever get hit with droughts? Because they have to wash the panels frequently to remove dirt and the like.
They got lots of hail. Also mucho tornados.
What a waste. Pathetic.
Monorail….get your monoraiiiiillllll!
Seriously, this keeps happening because those responsible not only DON’T go to jail, they get into power.
https://ottawacitizen.com/feature/how-solar-energy-dreams-became-a-nightmare-for-the-small-ontario-town-of-blind-river/
“Since 2015, the Citizen has been trying to obtain information about the debt to explain how the tiny town managed to borrow $49.5 million of federal taxpayers’ money, yet years later have seemingly little to show for it.
It turns out, the forces that brought about that debt have direct connections to the nation’s capital: from free-flowing federal money from the former Harper government’s much ballyhooed Economic Action Plan; to Ottawa energy companies Plasco Energy Group and Menova Energy Inc.; to high-profile Ottawa consultant Brian Guest.
It’s a whopping amount of money for a town that last year collected $5.98 million in total taxes. “
A lot of money for production that won’t amount to a hill of beans.
BADA BING!!!! We have a winner.
Watts and watts of dem.
“What do you get when the sun goes down?”
A beer.
a quarter section of land in these parts is going for close to half a million.
so 3-4 million just to acquire the land to put these on. I would like to know whose land they plan to purchase and who will make off like a bandit.
remind me again about the concern of producing enough food to supply an overcrowded planet.
Boundry Dam power station has been in use for 50 plus years. no way these panels have that lifespan
So the plan is still to freeze to death in the dark…
Ballpark lifespan is 15 to 20 years before they are discarded in a landfill and begin leaching heavy metals into the ground.
I would like to see a graph of the decline in productivity of the farm over time. Likely a good bit of dirt blowing around in the Estevan area that will damage the glass and reduce the amount of electricity generated.
Typical is 3% at time of installation, and 3% per year thereafter, with a typical life span of 15 to 20 years for quality panels, depending on heat loading and thermal cycling
Gracias.
Typically these will decay in output at 0.8% per year, see https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/51664.pdf so your 100MW is only 85MW after 20 years, or 175,000 hours.
But, remember those LED light bulbs that all offer 10 year lifetimes but many fail within a year or too? Same applies to solar panels. The number given above is for module power output. You have to connect all those modules together and, just like the LED bulbs where most failures are the wires and sundry electronics. To quote the paper, page 13, in an extensive survey of field returns of more than 4000 modules, found that more than 90% of field failures were caused by corrosion and interconnect breakage
Electronics reliability is a fascinating subject but the deceit does not even go there, it starts with the deliberate confusion of rated power versus actual power. Just as with the swindlemills.
Put the money into a nuke and use some of SK’s own uranium. Solar panels at 50°N … this is a joke, right?
Monday mirthiness.
“Solar panels at 50°N … this is a joke, right?”
There’s a large solar installation currently going up just north of Enchant, NE of Lethbridge. Same, same, 50°N.
With even more wind!
… and snow load:-)
Mebbe they’re depending on our world famous Chinook winds to keep the snow melted. Thing is, they often bring dust/dirt with them.
The seasonal employment opportunities will be good because they will need to hire workers to brush the snow off the panels in winter. That’ll be perfect work for all the unskilled immigrants that will be brought in by Justin
Re snow.
The union of solar panel snow shovelers will complain it’s too cold to shovel.
They’ll only work during daylight. Then it will snow at night. So no power.
An the scrapers used to clean off snow and ice will scratch the panels, cutting down their ability to produce electricity.
Didn’t they tell you that they plan to install solar powered panel heaters to use a small amount of the power generated to keep the snow off the panels?
/s
JD appreciate the sarcasm
When it snows it’s not sunny. But I guess the gang greens (the they in your remark) who live in California are unfamiliar with snow.
And the ‘they’ in Saskatchewan aren’t planning on this working. They’ll make money consulting and installing it. And then they’ll make lots more money fixing it.
And fixing it, and fixing it, and fixing it…
Who doesn’t want to live in rural Saskatchewan? That might be sufficient incentive for them to return home.
In some cases, LED traffic lights need heaters to keep the ice off to remain visible. Maybe we could put heaters on the solar panels then we don’t need no low wage snow-shovellers. 🙂
Looks like an ideal situation for snow drifts, not just fluffy powder snow. It’s going to take a lot of work to chop those things apart.
Here’s one forecast for Lithium demand.
https://mobile.twitter.com/KeillerDon/status/1587040540134096897?cxt=HHwWgoCy7c69poYsAAAA
Sustainable?
The gang greens will oppose each and every new mine.
“We must destroy the planet, in order to save it.”
The minerals required for full decarbonization of the planet using solar panels and wind turbines require the complete and total demolition of the earth’s surface.
Somewhere some dastardly Snidely Whiplash is twirling his mo’stash.
Nice, quick trip in the Wayback Machine, John! Thanks for that.
And all living things.
It is a nice quiet area so when the solar panels are defunct, just leave the garbage where it lies.
The cost of clearing 1120 acres of foundations capped with 1120 acres of garbage makes rehabilitation of the land unviable.
As long as the mining equipment is still there, no problem clearing away the trash. And it’s an unmined area, so coal under all that high-tech overburden is a bonus.
If solar farms aren’t viable in Arizona or California, what is the argument for putting them in Sask? There’s plenty or real world info on solar now. Was an accountant not involved in this decision?
But, but, but … “cheap” … “green” … “renewable” … “non-carbon” … energy!!! We need to transition to a “clean, green, future”. Now!! Right? At any cost.
Accountants were involved. They’re skimming off most of the money.
People with actual skills are not permitted to participate in the decision making process. That’s what government is for.
Over and over again I see that these government planners simply do not understand electricity. They have absolutely no idea how poorly solar and wind stack up against hydro or coal or nuclear. They don’t know what a megawatt is; they just parrot words like that to sound smart. Then they talk about battery banks to store the electricity for night and windless periods. Worked real well in Alberta, didn’t it? The battery bank drained in four minutes or something like that?
No electrical engineers on these boards. Just people with completely irrelevant degrees, if even that much. People who get their electrical “education” from the equally ignorant media and from the corrupt, dishonest companies that make this stuff. It’s like hiring a grocery store checkout clerk to fix your car. Insane.
“No electrical engineers on these boards. Just people with completely irrelevant degrees, if even that much.”
Dan, you don’t need to be an electrical engineer to figger that this stuff doesn’t work. All it takes is a bit of basic knowledge and a bit of common dog-f*ck. Neither of these register with any of these idiots. Two minutes of back of the napkin calculations over coffee exposes the BS.
My money is on the checkout clerk. He beats them hands down, when it comes to credibility.
Someone is in the bag for the grift. Follow the money as usual. It doesn’t matter what part of the country you are from the people are just way too dumb.
Hang the cost! They’re saving the planet! They’re saving humanity! What good is money when the planet is burned to a crisp? (sarc off)
Who needs farmland? Just cover it in solar panels and windmills. And if people starve … then BONUS!! Smaller demand on Gaia’s limited resources. Yes, this is utter stupidity.
Oh well, perhaps the massive, toxic, Tesla Battery storage array can be located on the reclaimed mine land?
I often wonder, how much damage those panels do to the ozone layer? I mean have you seen the miles and miles of them in the dessert in California? Do they burn holes in the atmosphere?
No, ma’am.
They should put a battery car charging station right in the middle of it.
Open only during productive hours.
Do we know how many acres will be used by those solar farms?
7 quarter sections is 1120 acres.
I’m world class unclear on the “disturbed land” vs. “undisturbed land” bit. Anyone comprehend that?
The disturbed land is reclaimed mine land.
Got it. Thank you, sir!
Welcome! And “sir” is my dad… 😉
DB, be sure and tell your dad Hi from me.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/wind-farm-germany-coal-mine
As Trudeau forces the closure of Canadians power plants Germany has already seen the next part of these disastrous policies. They face freezing to death in the winter. There solutions is scrap green energy projects and return to a reliable source or electricity in their own control, coal power plants.
About that drama teacher…you think he has the skills and intellect to be making executive decisions relating to critical infrastructure?
He’s going to refuse to learn from Europe’s mistakes, and insist on re-enacting them.
If we had a functional useful media, someone would ask him the following “How many giga tonnes of lithium, copper and cobalt will Canada need for back up power batteries when we go zero carbon, and where will that material come from?” And the media would not settle for the usual platitudes and insist on a number.
Like communism, green policies just haven’t been done right previously; this time they will succeed.
Solar panels in Arizona is uneconomical. Solar panels in Canada is stupidity. Produces power half time in summer only when there are no clouds. Produces nothing during the winter and some union paid asshole is going to have to sweep snow off the panels, in slow motion as only union assholes can.
Scar,
That made me laugh so hard I almost fell off the floor.
No that’s where they will send the immigrants to at minimum wage. Once they get resident status they will move to the big cities and take welfare. They won’t bother with moving to Regina. It’s too cold and the power will be unreliable
That is exactly how it works here in the States. Residence is established in our smaller communities, because it is easier to obtain entry into the system that provides (hugely) subsidized housing. Once entrance has been established, immigrants then relocate to Denver, carrying their qualified status with them.
And if they are savvy enough, greener pastures via Roxham Road or its equalvalent out West into Canukistan.
Maybe if they are lucky , Justines Royal Henchmen will lend a hand and help them over the border.
When snow drifts clog the whole array, it will take a lot more than a broom to clear them.
At least SaskPower is being honest that when the sun is not shining, no power is produced. I really hope that this is just a slop to the activists to shut them up and the real focus of the government is developing small nuclear reactors using the very plentiful supply of uranium that SK has.
That this project got beyond the Friday night pub, back of the envelope stage, is just nuts.
Everyone involved with promoting it should be fired.
Just build a proper nuclear power station and stop listening to all the crazy idiots.
Your power bill will go up faster than the infrastructure for this boondoggle.
And your taxes as well, because the subsidies are paid out by government.
Even if they weren’t a waste of fossil fuel input into a short and barely productive / counter-productive life-cycle, the loss of economic rent of productive farmland could easily pay for the increased footing costs in using the disturbed land. They can’t be that heavy so I’m guessing that wind toppling is more of a concern than settling.
The Real Definition of Green.
Given where they will be built that seems the sensible conclusion. They might still take flight, and even if they are eventually removed, a good amount of concrete will probably remain in the ground.
There is an Excel Energy windfarm about 15 miles southeast of here that was one of the first built in Colorado, I’m guessing it was erected ~ 1988. Before it was built, and at its decommissioning Excel stated that the turbines would eventually be removed, and the land restored to its original condition. I don’t think they ever had any intention of removing the giant concrete plugs from the ground, but to this day the turbines still stand. They have made no effort to remove them.
The last figures I saw on removal was that it costs about $500,000 per turbine. Such a nice legacy of industrial blight on the landscape that we are leaving to future generations.
Can’t Scott Moe just kill this with the stroke of a pen?
How about the 5700 panel installation up at Fort Chipewyan airport? It’s been up for 2 years now, wholly owned and operated by 3 nations, paid for by provincial and federal government (7.8 million $$) . Power from dusk til dawn, which is about 5-6 hrs, in the dead of winter.. They need a massive battery to store up the summer’s light, to last all winter!
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5807721
Looks cold and dark, at the ceremony
(Sorry for XiBC link)
Really. Hadn’t heard of that one. Checking, it’s 58°N, almost the Arctic circle. Idiots…
.
Curious to see the Coal vs. Solar employment ratio assuming coal will eventually be phased like they want. Does it put up roughly the same numbers? How well does solar employment pay? I’m assuming a coal worker would make anywhere in the range of 80K – 100k/year…that’s a lot of enchiladas being injected into Estevan’s economy. Union or non Union? Are there permanent spin off industries/trades that would match up to what coal can put up. I have my doubts.
If Estevan thinks this is the saviour they’re looking for I’d give that a little more thought. I mean, it’s better than nothing, I get it, but I have a feeling Estevan is still going to experience a dramatic downturn.
Just my opinion.
The myth of “good, green jobs” numbering in the thousands is one long (and dishonestly) promoted by liberal politicians. Support functions for most of these installations are few, and low paying. If they have them, moving parts in solar fields are slow-moving and lightly loaded. That’s not a recipe that requires much maintenance. On the original equipment side, note that Solyndra, a supposed solar industry OEM took about $400 million in taxpayer subsidies, and then folded.
The economic news for rural, natural resource communities continues to be bleak. One aspect is that mining generated royalty payments which supported local, state and provincial governments and economies. When mines close, and royalty payments cease, state and provincial finances can get very difficult, very quickly.
“Grandaddy worked at the mine. Daddy worked at the mine. Uncle John worked at the mine. I have an interview at 7-11 on Monday.”
But wait, there’s more.
They say history doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. What’s happening in mining communities echoes the destruction of small communities in the Appalachians when the furniture industry de-camped for Asia. Plant closures in Georgia, Virginia and especially the Carolinas preceded waves of unemployment and increased alcoholism, drug abuse and crime. Small cities which once proudly supplied the finest hardwood furniture the world has ever known were then saddled with an unemployed, substance-dependent population who, rather than contributing to government coffers were instead depleting them via various social programs. Several decades later, the decimation of the textile industry in the southeastern United States played out the very same way, as those plants relocated to Asia.
A good percentage of the unemployed from the Appalachians moved to the Midwest, what we now refer to as the ‘Rust Belt’ and took positions in light, medium and heavy manufacturing. In a familiar pattern, much of this manufacturing relocated to Mexico and Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving more unemployment in its wake. JD Vance, who hopefully will be elected to the US Senate next week, tells this story quite graphically in his novel, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’.
Five years ago, an acquaintance who lives in a New Mexico mining community told me the only business thriving in his community was the installation of interlocks on vehicles. If you’re not familiar, interlocks prevent the intoxicated from driving under the influence. Congress is scheming to make interlocks mandatory on all new vehicles, revealing a lot about their optimism on the future of the American working class.
Wow! Now there’s a story that needs to be told. “Green jobs” is a line of pure, unadulterated bullshit. Full stop.
Well done, roaddog.
The tragic story of the destruction of America’s hardwood furniture industry is told in Beth Macy’s book, Factory Man. It is a wonderfully well-written book, and a very sad tale.
https://climatechangedispatch.com/scientist-tells-utah-legislators-renewables-are-a-failed-path/
Wind and solar are a dead end. Someone will be on the hook for a massive cleanup when the green shit made in China falls apart in 10 – 12 years. But you can bet it won’t be the same group that gets government subsidies to install it. It’ll be you, the taxpayer.
-+
A family member farms south of Calgary. He and his neighbors were approached by a solar facility with a pretty juicy offer (lease for 20 years for $125,000/quarter/year, with promises to decommission when the term is up, etc.). All of these farmers are over 50 and most over 60 (no Quick Dick McDicks there, sadly), and for them the work gets harder and less profitable every year. They don’t want to leave their home which they’d have to do if they sold. Maybe they could rent or crop share, if they could even find someone else to do it. Their own kids can’t or won’t take over the farm. So I wouldn’t fault them for taking the deal.
Follow the money. What if solar companies are not actually intended to provide meaningful amounts of electricity but instead are heavily subsidized? The federal government needs to spend all that “carbon tax” money somewhere. Taking good farmland out of production is just a bonus according to the urban politicians & the greenies.
Solar farms are, of course, heavily subsidized, and provide insubstantial amounts of electricity, and rarely when its needed. The ineffectivity of solar and wind is explained in this article from WUWT.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/10/25/goldman-sachs-jeff-currie-3-8-trillion-of-investment-in-renewables-moved-fossil-fuels-from-82-to-81-of-overall-energy-consumption-in-10-years/
Warren Buffett already told us, ten or so years ago, that the only credible reason to build a windfarm was to harvest subsidies.
As to the farmers and ranchers, Corb Lund covered that, pretty effectively I thought, at the link below.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gYG-eODQcDQ
I would want to see a decommissioning performance bond held in trust before agreeing to those terms if it were my land.
Bottom line.
I’m going to save the link to this very thread.
And revisit it after a cpl of summers / Winters while gazing at the data showing actual production versus Govt Propaganda.
What a crock of utter BS by our Climatard Govt minions who totally ignore REAL data from Arizona-Kalifornia.
Sadly, government never looks in the rearview mirror, in the hope of not doing “THAT” again. The history of government in California over the last two decades should be required reading for all new hires in civil service. Newsom’s Train to Nowhere!!!
The bridge that The Terminator bought from China!!! Stories that must be told.
That’s a hundred megawatts for a few hours a day in July and August in the first year of use. It will vary between that and zero for the other 22 hours a day and ten months of the year.
Maximum sun is on June 21, so a month either side of that is about right. July and August might be hotter, but that’s accumulated heat, not peak solar radiation.
Like I said earlier, an electrical engineer on the board of whatever government agency is doing this would maybe talk some sense into those people. Sure, many of us, without engineering degrees, work with electricity and know that solar power is next-to-useless, but it takes that degree to convince other board members that someone knows much more than they do and might keep them from becoming laughingstocks of history.
A small modular reactor, 100 megawatts, is being built in New Brunswick. It will produce that 100MW 24/7/365. Saskatchewan, Ontario and NB are collaborating on this development. Why SK would fool with solar is beyond me.
Why?
More expensive, more polluting, completely unreliable.