Renewable energy has plenty of business opportunities, according to Chad Eggerman, a projects lawyer with Miller Thomson鈥檚 Saskatoon office.
He spoke to the Estevan Chamber of Commerce at 小蓝视频east College鈥檚 Estevan campus on May 16.
Eggerman works on the front end of projects in oil and gas, mining, and real estate. 鈥淭hese days I鈥檝e been rather busy with renewable energy projects,鈥� he said.
Noting there鈥檚 probably broad recognition that lowering greenhouse gas emissions is important, as is reducing the carbon intensity of activities, he said this group, the chamber, might be interested in the business opportunities.
To that end, he said the Estevan area, and specifically around North Portal, has one of the greatest solar irradiation levels in all of Canada, which, in turn, generates more power.
He said looking at demand is one of the first things that needs to be done.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a pretty solid demand for power in southeast Saskatchewan. Not just in boom times, it鈥檚 a high growth area.鈥�
Eggerman said it is possible to build your own solar facility. But there鈥檚 also potential work in installing solar panels, and building racks. While most solar panels come out of China, racks tend to be built locally.
鈥淭here鈥檚 opportunity in the solar supply chain,鈥� he said.
That means spec鈥檇 welding work. It also means installation.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a bit of science there,鈥� he said.
Eggerman focused on ground-based projects, as opposed to rooftop facilities. Ground-based projects are more significant, more expensive and generate more power.
There鈥檚 demand for designing sites, and for land agents to arrange for sites.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about finding land that鈥檚 flat and open. It needs to be close to interconnections, usually into the SaskPower electrical grid,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just plug them in and they work.鈥�
Then there鈥檚 the need for a contract with SaskPower, who sets the rules and manages that supply of power coming onto the grid. As a vertically integrated utility, it controls everything, and if they change things, that鈥檚 a risk. SaskPower has a small power producers program, but that program is 小蓝视频 reviewed currently.
One of the huge challenges with renewable energy is its intermittency.
Eggerman noted Saskatchewan is lacking developers. Often solar developers have their head offices in Europe, and they may have offices in Canada.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not getting into development, here in Saskatchewan. We鈥檙e not becoming developers. Maybe that will change in the future. I don鈥檛 know,鈥� he said.
Using the example of powering a pumpjack, he added, 鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason you can鈥檛 generate and use your own power.鈥澨�
He noted there are opportunities to use solar with batteries for 鈥渙ff the grid鈥� installations.
鈥淭he price of these batteries is dropping all the time,鈥� he said.
Another program is net metering. Using that program, you can 鈥渮ero out鈥� your bill. Eggerman said he鈥檚 shocked it hasn鈥檛 been taken up by more people.
More broadly, he noted: 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e talking about is ditching SaskPower. That is an astounding thing. SaskPower has its own separate concerns on that.鈥�
Eggerman talked about virtual net metering, where companies produce their own power at one location to offset their power bill at another location, such as a mine or refinery.
While there鈥檚 not much ongoing maintenance to these solar plants, there is the necessity of keeping the panels clean on a regular basis, and keeping the roads between them clear.
Big projects can cover as much as a quarter section, he noted. 鈥淭hese are quite complex, technical projects.鈥�
Flare gas
Beyond solar power, Eggerman touched on using flare gas from oil wells and batteries to generate power. He noted that SaskPower had just signed an agreement with the First Nations Power Authority to source 20 megawatts of flare gas generated power.
鈥淭his is the beginning of flare gas projects. You鈥檙e using that gas to generate electricity. We expect to see a lot of uptake,鈥� he said.
鈥淥ver to you, private industry,鈥� Eggerman concluded.
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