WESTLOCK – The $1.2 million 625 kW solar panel array atop the Rotary Spirit Centre is paying some early dividends, generating just over $60,000 in electricity savings from January to December 2020.
As part of her report to Town of Westlock council at its March 8 meeting, director of finance Julia Seppola said the 1,623 panels generated 582,027 kWh in 2020, enough to power 80 homes in a year — Seppola says an average home uses 610 kWh monthly. In late 2019, council agreed to go ahead with $1,184,181.38 project which was funded via a $511,213 Municipal Climate Change Action Centre grant and a 15-year $672,967 debenture from ENMAX, the company which installed and continues to maintain the array.
Seppola said that the total savings was $62,436, while the 2020 debenture repayment was $46,456 (10 months of payments) to yield a net savings of $15,980. The monthly repayment, Seppola added, also includes maintenance and other troubleshooting for the array, which have a 25-year lifespan.
“I think we’ll see a net surplus for 3.375 years before we go over into the other side. Hopefully we continue to see some surpluses there for a little while longer,” she said.
Council was pleased and in some cases taken aback by the early returns on the array as for the first number of years it was actually supposed to cost the town about $5,000 annually to run them. ENMAX claims the panels will ultimately lead to cumulative savings of up to $600,000 over the next 25 years, based on the 2018 consumption and rates, and offset approximately 31 per cent of the electricity required to power the facility.
“I remember the numbers and it was projecting a $5,000 deficit per year. But you’re saying we’re up which is awesome, really awesome,” said Coun. Murtaza Jamaly.
“And that was their worst case, so if it rained every day for June, July and August … so we came out of it pretty darn good” Seppola added.
ENMAX has estimated a total annual savings of $49,300 (energy and wires), but clarified previously that the number was a conservative projection as projects in other communities have led to even more significant cost reductions.
“All of our discussions with ENMAX and the information that they provided during the planning process was … they kept telling us these were conservative estimates and they didn’t want us to think we were going to make a bunch right away. We’ve always used the most conservative estimate and that’s worked out,” said CAO Simone Wiley.
“I’m very happy with the first year, well a little more than a year, of operations. It’s a little bit skewed because of COVID and the shutdown times we’ve had without users in the building and not starting up an ice plant, those kinds of things so I will look forward to subsequent years that are more representative of a regular year.
“But I will say initially that things are panning out better than what we had been led to believe which is great.”
