Sault Ste. Marie Solar Park

The Sault Ste. Marie Solar Park near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, in 2011 became Canada's second largest photovoltaic plant with an installed capacity of 68 MWp.[1]

Sault Ste. Marie Solar Park
Map
CountryCanada
LocationSault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Coordinates46°32′51″N 84°16′47″W / 46.54750°N 84.27972°W / 46.54750; -84.27972
StatusOperational
Commission date2011
Owner(s)Starwood Energy
Solar farm
TypeFlat-panel PV
Feed-in tariff
Power generation
Units operational270,000
Nameplate capacity68 MW

In 2009, Ontario introduced a feed-in tariff for renewable energy payments program paying up to CDN 44.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kW·h) for large ground arrays such as Sault Ste. Marie.[2] This makes Ontario's one of the top feed in tariff programs in the world. All of the power produced will be sold for CDN 42 cents per kW·h for the first 20 years.[3]

Consisting of six 10 MW Ac projects, the first two were completed, by the POD Generating Group, in October, 2010 – the Baseline Road Facility on the west side of the city (46°31′26″N 84°26′46″W / 46.52389°N 84.44611°W / 46.52389; -84.44611), also known as SSM1,[4] using 87,000 Q.BASE modules from Q-Cells.[5] The project was acquired by Starwood Energy, in June, 2010. The remainder of the project was completed by Q-Cells. SSM2 is 30 MW Ac, and SSM3 is 10 MW Ac, both near Black Road on the east side of Sault Ste Marie (46°32′51″N 84°16′47″W / 46.54750°N 84.27972°W / 46.54750; -84.27972).[6] The total electricity peak demand for Sault Ste. Marie is 90-100 MW in summer and 140-150 MW in winter.[7] The instantaneous demand is displayed on the SSM PUC website.[8] The project was completed in 2011, with about 270,000 panels. Energy generated from each of the three stations will be sold to SSM PUC through 20-year Power Purchase Agreements using Ontario Power Authority's Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program.[9]

8 km northwest is the Prince Township Wind Farm, Canada's 3rd largest wind farm, rated at 189 MW, which along with 203 MW of hydroelectricity, further makes Sault Ste. Marie a green city.[10][11]

Timeline of the largest PV power stations in the world
Year(a) Name of PV power station Country Capacity
MW
1982 Lugo United States 1
1985 Carrisa Plain United States 5.6
2005 Bavaria Solarpark (Mühlhausen) Germany 6.3
2006 Erlasee Solar Park Germany 11.4
2008 Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park Spain 60
2010 Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant Canada 97
2011 Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park China 200
2012 Agua Caliente Solar Project United States 290
2014 Topaz Solar Farm(b) United States 550
2015 Longyangxia Dam Solar Park China 850
2016 Tengger Desert Solar Park China 1547
2019 Pavagada Solar Park India 2050
2020 Bhadla Solar Park India 2245
Also see list of photovoltaic power stations and list of noteworthy solar parks
(a) year of final commissioning (b) capacity given in  MWAC otherwise in MWDC

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