The City of Saskatoon is looking at building a $3.5 million solar power plant in the southwest corner of the city.
A 13 acre site south of 11th Street West between Circle Drive South and the CN rail lines would house dozens of solar panels to produce electricity.
The land is considered an ideal location as it has “excellent solar exposure, the location is near electrical distribution lines, and has little or no other above ground development opportunities” according to a report heading to the city’s environment, utilities and corporate services committee.
The report goes on to state that a 1 MW solar power plant would save the equivalent of over 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted over the proposed 25-year term of the project.
The plant would either be built by the city or contracted out to a third party.
There is already one solar demonstration site in the city, which is meeting or exceeding production expectations and financial payback according to the report.
The committee will decide at its meeting on Nov. 6 whether to send the report to city council for approval.