Enbridge wants to build a solar electricity generation and battery storage project to help power its large natural gas storage and compressor station in a rural Lambton County municipality.
Enbridge wants to build a solar electricity generation and battery storage project to help power its large natural gas storage and compressor station in a rural Lambton County municipality.
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Solar panels and battery storage, each with capacity of one to two megawatts, will be an internal, “off-grid” energy system for its Dawn Station on Bentpath Line in Dawn-Euphemia Township, Enbridge said. The company aims to have the project up and running in 2026.
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It’s hosting a public meeting about the project from 6 to 8 pm Jan. 24 at the Oil Springs Youth Center.
Fir more information, visit enbridge.com/dawnsolarandbess.
Township Mayor Alan Broad said he’s looking forward to learning more about the company’s proposal.
“We haven’t met with them yet,” he said. “I have no idea how big it is.”
Broad said he has asked township staff to gather what information it can for council ahead of the company’s open house.
While there are farms with small solar panel installations, Dawn-Euphemia currently has no large solar generation sites, he said.
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“Consultation with Indigenous communities and engagement with landowners, government agencies, the general public, and other interested persons is an integral component of the project planning process,” the company said.
The company declined a request for further comment on Wednesday.
“This proposal is too early in the development process for us to be able to provide further details,” Haroon Sritharan, with Enbridge, said by email.
The project aims to provide “clean electricity” to the Dawn site and help the company reach its goal of reducing its emissions by 35 per cent by 2030 and to be net-zero by 2050, according to the project website. It also is expected to reduce demand on the local electricity grid.
Enbridge is a “significant taxpayer” in Dawn-Euphemia, Broad said.
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The company’s “Dawn Hub” is said to be one of the largest natural gas storage facilities in North America. Through pipelines connected to the facility, it serves markets in Eastern Canada and the US Midwest and Northeast.
Enbridge said the solar and battery project will include solar panels, transformers, electrical connections, a substation and communications tower, access roads, buildings, perimeter fencing and battery cells.
The company will secure government approvals before construction begins, it said. That’s expected in summer 2025 with project operations starting in 2026.
The facility isn’t expected to produce any emissions or “pose a threat to human health” and any noise generated at the site will be “within regulatory limits,” according to a consultant’s report prepared for the company.
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An emergency response and communications plan will be prepared for the site and shared with local emergency officials, the report said.
General repairs and maintenance are the only activities expected at the site once it’s built, the report said. Operations aren’t expected to increase area traffic.
Enbridge entered the solar energy market in 2008 with its large 80 MW Sarnia Solar Project, and has equity in two other Ontario solar projects and US solar sites.
The company has commissioned other solar “self-power projects” intended to offset power use at oil and gas transmission operations in Alberta and the US, its website said.
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