Big savings. The Town of Sexsmith is offsetting 70 per cent of annual electricity consumption at 32 different town-owned sites.

Official ribbon cutting for the opening of the Town of Sexsmith Solar Photovoltaic Project

The Town of Sexsmith solar photovoltaics (PV) project is now complete. The Town is taking action against climate change while helping save the Municipality future energy costs by generating electricity from a newly constructed 706.86 kW DC solar farm.

This project, completed in partnership with ENMAX, is located on the former Town landfill site constructed on a ballasted ground mount Polar Racking system. With expected annual energy savings equal to financing payments, this investment will be annually cash neutral for the 15-year financing term, and provide greater savings after this period. The expected lifetime of the solar project is 25 years or more.

This is the first solar PV array to be installed in the Town. By harnessing the power of the sun, this project will help the Town of Sexsmith reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 466 tonnes per year; equivalent to taking 143 passenger vehicles off the road each year the system operates.

This project was approved by Council October 15, 2019 and was energized October 23, 2020. Total project cost is $1,819,534, with $600,831 of this total cost being grant funded.

The Town of Sexsmith received grant funding from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre’s Alberta Municipal Solar Program to install the solar array, which will produce enough electricity to offset 70 per cent of the annual consumption at 32 different town-owned sites. The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre, a partnership of Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the Government of Alberta, was an integral partner in the completion of this project.

Information provided by the Town of Sexsmith