REGINA – SaskTel on Wednesday announced plans to build a solar array at the SaskTel Wire Centre located in southwest Saskatoon later this fall as part of a pilot project “to determine the long-term feasibility of solar energy as a means to offset electrical costs while also reducing the Crown corporation’s environmental footprint,” according to a press release.
The ground-mounted 100-kilowatt (kW) solar array will consist of 222 solar panels situated into three rows on SaskTel’s property next to the wire centre, and will generate approximately 128,000 kW hours of electricity per year, the release says.
Saskatoon-based miEnergy North America, a majority Indigenous-owned utility-scale solar provider, will install the solar array. Work is scheduled to begin in October with the array expected to be in-service by the end of the year, according to the release.
“As Saskatchewan’s largest communications provider, we require significant amounts of electricity to power our cell sites, pedestals, and other facilities that bring connectivity to our customers across the province,” Charlene Gavel, SaskTel’s president and CEO, said in the release. “This pilot project is a measured step that will allow us to evaluate the feasibility of solar as a supplementary power source.
“While potential cost-savings and reduction of our environmental footprint are some of the drivers behind this pilot project, we are also interested to learn if solar power generation may help improve the resiliency of our network in rural and remote areas,” Gavel added.
Image supplied by SaskTel.
