The Alberta government has paused all wind and solar energy developments, citing the need to review project locations and the effect they would have on the province’s electrical grid.
According to a report by the Globe and Mail, several companies in the application stage claim to have been surprised by the government’s decision to stop the proposals in their tracks, but according to provincial officials, they were warned in advance.
“We have to pause all spending on our projects and halt everything, because we don’t even know if we’re going to qualify under new legislation that may or may not come up,” said founder and chief executive of Proteus Mike Lambros.
The provincial government officially announced on Thursday that all existing applications for solar and wind projects promising to produce over one megawatt of electricity would be halted citing the need to review end-of-life practices for turbines and solar farms.
Nearly 15 projects could be affected by the decision.
The decision for the Alberta Utilities Commission to halt all new approvals is expected to last until Feb. 29 as Alberta undergoes a policy review.
According to Alberta Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, Alberta’s renewable energy regulations were written a quarter of a century ago and need updating for the current realities.
Alberta is among the foremost provinces in Canada to invest in solar and wind technology. It has seen billions of dollars pour into renewables over the past few years.
“But the world has changed, so we need to address this quickly and answer some of these challenges,” explained Neudorf.
Some of the expected regulatory changes to be reviewed are security bonds so that solar and wind farms can be properly disposed of when they reach the end of their life cycle, as well as outlining which areas were suitable for renewable energy projects.
Some farmers and rural communities have expressed concern that solar and wind farms are taking up valuable agricultural land.
According to the Alberta government, they consulted 200 parties before pausing the applications.
Critics of solar and wind energy say that the business case behind such developments is weak and that by nature such projects are unreliable when it comes to increasing electricity demands.
In April, the Alberta energy grid saw the share of wind and solar power production fall to less than 1% of their total energy capacity.
“At this point, the business case behind using solar and wind power is often very weak because these two sources of power are often unreliable – the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow,” president of SecondStreet.org Colin Craig told True North.
