There’s a lot of community interest in renewable energy but not a lot of information.
That conclusion, made by the SouthGrow Regional Initiative in southern Alberta, led the organization to find a solution.
SouthGrow, an economic development alliance of 22 southern and central Alberta communities, has partnered with the International Wind Energy Academy (IWEA) in Lethbridge to identify renewable energy opportunities.
Their plan is to conduct renewable energy assessments in each of the 22 communities and provide them with a report and action plan.
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IWEA program administrator Greg Peterson has three people working on the assessments, which he expects to be complete by February.
“With the growth of renewable energy across the southern region, because it’s so new there’s a lot of potential but not every community understands what kind of potential that could be,” Peterson said.
“This assessment will look into what kind of opportunities that a community may have to develop some form of renewable energy source.”
Wind energy is the most obvious potential in southern Alberta, but even that isn’t appropriate for all, Peterson said. Solar, microgeneration and energy co-operatives are among the options that will be explored when determining when one best fits a particular community.
As well, municipal buildings will be examined to gauge energy use and requirements so appropriate renewable energy alternatives can be suggested.
The Alberta government has developed an evaluation tool, the Renewable Energy Toolkit, on which to base the assessments, Peterson said.
“From there, we help them with a strategy for the next steps in how you develop projects. This way they know what kind of project is best suited for them,” he said.
“Just because the wind blows doesn’t mean they may be in a good position for wind development. They may be better having a solar energy park.”
The communities within SouthGrow each have a list of ideas to promote economic development, and Peterson said renewable energy was on most of them.
However, they don’t have enough information to make informed decisions on whether and how to proceed.
“The bottom line is building capacity in rural communities,” he said.
“That’s what it’s all about. Not that we’re going to do it all. We just want to know what kind of resources are available in the community and how we can help build that capacity in that rural community to take advantage of the opportunities.”
