Among the concerns raised by opponents of the 1,600-acre solar farm are potential impacts on threatened raptors and migrating pronghorns.An active ferruginous hawk nest was discovered on the site of the proposed Saamis Solar Park power plant. The developer has since adjusted its plans, in response. A proposal to build and operate a 1,600-acre solar farm within Medicine Hat's urban limits is up for debate this week at an Alberta Utilities Commission hearing.
The project was first proposed in 2016 but has faced delays in the approval process because of Alberta's seven-month moratorium on renewable energy project approvals — and because of nesting birds of prey. "A biologist from Stantec visited the project site last week … She saw one ferruginous hawk in a tree adjacent to ," he said.
It also said a 200-metre setback was selected because the area has already been "disturbed by oil and gas infrastructure, roads, industrial facilities, and residential developments."Alberta gives cold shoulder to wind and solar industry, as the rest of the world is clamouring for more But a document prepared on behalf of DP Energy argued that the typical wintering habitat for pronghorns is outside the project area, the land "does not contain high-quality attributes for a pronghorn movement corridor," and unfenced areas will allow for wildlife movement.
DP Energy, the Medicine Hat Concerned Citizen Group and their representatives are also split over the significance of native vegetation within the project site.
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