Solar developer SolarBank has partnered with Canadian engineering services and consulting firm TriMac Engineering to develop a 31MW community solar portfolio in the eastern region of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The portfolio comprises four projects, one with a capacity of 10MW in the rural community of Enon and three 7MW projects in Sydney, Halifax and Annapolis.
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These projects are being built under a community solar programme from the government of Nova Scotia, which is seeking to add up to 100MW of solar capacity to the grid and reduce the region’s dependence on fossil fuels. In order to be eligible for support under this initiative, a project must have a capacity of no more than 10MW.
Both SolarBank and TriMac Engineering are planning to apply for the programme by July 2024 and aim to start construction of the portfolio in 2025.
Through the community solar programme, projects are expected to commence operations in Spring 2026 and would be owned by AI Renewable Fund.
Aside from Canada, SolarBank is also present in the community solar market in the US, where it recently secured a lease agreement on a land in the state of New York to build 30MW of community solar. This project is expected to be eligible for incentives under the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority NY-Sun Program.
The NY-Sun initiative aims to support 10GW of distributed solar by 2030, and is the state’s latest initiative into distributed solar, following governor Kathy Hochul’s plans, announced earlier this year, to streamline permitting for community solar projects.