Plans to erect solar forest axed

The corner of Bay and Algoma will remain vacant after plans for a solar forest were cut down due to several obstacles, says the co-operative spearheading the project.

The Superior Renewable Energy Co-operative had plans to transform the corner into a solar forest complete with four 20-foot-high solar panels in the shape of spruce trees. SREC board president Charles Campbell said the project would have been capable of producing renewable energy and a public art project as well.

But the province changes the rate for grounded solar projects, from 80 cents per kilowatt to 62, which struck a blow to the project’s cost effectiveness.
 
"That became the last straw in terms of our ability to move this project forward," Campbell said. "It became a sign that maybe we weren’t going to get this project off the ground after all."

The company manufacturing triangular solar panels which would be used by the project ceased production leaving SREC searching warehouses for available stock said Campbell. Because the project wouldn’t have been ready by the fall, the province’s new rules would have come into effect forcing a 60 per cent Ontario content policy which wouldn’t have been possible he added.

"Despite a lot of rhetoric and a lot of talk and a lot of hopes we don’t have Ontario manufacturers of solar panels that we could’ve used for design at this stage," Campbell said.

Campbell said while the Finlandia Club and other businesses had been supportive, negotiating a land agreement with Suncor, which owns the land, also fell through.

Campbell said the 40 or so people showing interest in the project are disappointed and it’s unfortunate that the land will remain vacant.

"I think a lot of people had a lot of hope not just for the renewable energy component but also in helping to deal with a corner that quite frankly is far less attractive than the rest of the business area there is," Campbell said.

The SREC is planning other solar projects but will have a much more industrial look with the main focus on energy generation Campbell said.