Oct 8 2010
First Solar Inc, an Arizona established company, has declared the start up of its 80 MW Sarnia Solar Project constructed for Enbridge Inc in Ontario province. The power produced from the project will be purchased by the Ontario Power Authority to meet the power requirements of around 12,800 homes.
The Sarnia Solar Project, located over a 950 acre farm in Sarnia near Port Huron, Michigan incorporates over 1.3 million thin-film solar modules produced by First Solar. The project is actually a development of an existing 20 MW solar power plant built at the same site. The current 60 MW expansion constructed at a cost of $300 million Canadian Dollars works out lesser than $5 US Dollars per watt of power production. According to a news release from Enbridge, the project did not utilize water during its construction and the project was completed without much noise pollution and with less wastage of materials. The company announced its plans to recycle the used solar modules after completing their life time of usage. The news release further said that the project provided employment to around 800 people during the peak period of its construction and extended job opportunities to a number of designing and engineering companies in the area in addition to providing opportunities for service providers, suppliers and sub-contractors.
Earlier during December 2009, Patrick Daniel, Enbridge’s President and Chief Executive, had announced the expansion plans of the company. He held that the company has made additional investment in the Sarnia Project knowing its risk and reward features. He added that the project is one of the low risk business models that can be compared to its current crude oil pipeline industry. He said that the current augmentation in its Sarnia project will utilize the existing land available at the site. He clarified that the solar expansion follows their earlier declared wind energy project and provides a balance in their clean energy range of business by mixing wind and solar projects.
Source: http://www.enbridge.com/