Alberta’s government is looking to boost some of its prisons with solar energy.
The province says that it plans to build solar facilities in five of its 10 correctional facilities, with early energy costs estimated at $ 1 million per year.
“Solar facilities are expected to compensate approximately 80 percent of the energy used on each site,” said Michael Kwas, press secretary of the Martin Long Infrastructure Minister in an email.
He said that the estimated savings will probably change as the facilities are designed.
An acquisition document published by the province, which lists future projects with approved construction funds, says that the government budget for the solar proposal is $ 10 million to $ 50 million.
Like savings, the budget figure is also preliminary, Kwas said. A more accurate estimate would be determined later as planning progresses.
While the ministry did not say which prisons have been chosen, Kwas said that two are in the Edmonton area and three are around Calgary.
“The significant amount of non -agricultural lands, underutilized in these sites has an ideal opportunity for solar facilities mounted on the ground,” Kwas said.
There are three provincial prisons in the capital’s region: the Remand Center of Edmonton, which houses those who wait for trial; the Center for Young Criminals of Edmonton, directly next to the Remote Center; and the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Center, northeast of Edmonton.
This month three main regulatory changes were announced with respect to land recovery bonds, visual impact evaluations and agricultural land evaluations for renewable energy. Some say that the province should do the same for oil companies.
Calgary has a Remunction Center, a criminal center and a correctional center, all of which are built next to each other. There are also correctional facilities in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Peace River and Red Deer.
Some other government -owned buildings are already equipped with alternative energy generation systems, Kwas said, but did not provide examples.
“None of the [existing] The facilities are as large as those planned for the correctional centers. “
Kwas added that the use of Edmonton’s facilities uses approximately 11,500 megawatts annually. Calgary’s total is approximately 6,300 megawatts per year.
The public service provider based in Alberta, Atco, says that the average home in the province uses approximately seven hours of Megavatio annually.
The acquisition document says that the province plans to start accepting offers to build solar matrices at the end of this year or early 2026.
Stephen Legault, a senior manager based in Alberta with the Defense Environmental Defense Group, said he does not know if other prisons in Canada have solar energy, but would be delighted if Alberta were opening a new land.
“When small ads come out like this that suggests that someone is rationally thinking about the government about our future of energy, it makes me quite happy,” Legault said.
“It’s a great idea.”
The Office of the Federal Minister of Public Security, Gary Anandasangaree, said there are no prisons currently in solar energy.
“We wish the Alberta government the best in search of renewable energy solutions to feed its correctional facilities,” said a spokesman in an email.
While it seems to be a unique proposal in Canada, the use of solar energy to feed prisons and prisons is almost common to the south of the border.
Ned Lamont, governor of Connecticut, announced earlier this year that seven state correctional facilities were being partly driven by new solar matrices that are expected to be raised to the Government $ 11 million throughout the useful life of the panels.
“Installing solar energy systems in correctional facilities is a way in which we can offer cost savings in state government operations while reducing our carbon footprint,” Lamont said in an April press release.
There are also examples in Colorado and California.
The Santa Rita prison, near Dublin, California, had the largest scourge on the largest roof throughout the United States when almost 10,000 panels between 2001 and 2002 were installed.
Legault said he was surprised by Alberta’s plan.
The province put a seven -month moratorium in the approvals of projects for solar and wind energy in 2023, together with rules on new projects that restrict where new solar and wind parks can be built.
Kwas said the Ministry of Infrastructure is always looking for ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs, “including innovative energy solutions that minimize environmental impact.”
Legault said Alberta should not stop in prisons when it comes to placing new solar matrices in provincial property buildings.
“The only barrier is ingenuity, creativity and cash. And the third is something that I will admit that is always difficult,” Legault said.
“My hope would be that it would lead this provincial government to realize that renewable energy is not necessarily boogeyman.”
