GrainsWest Spring 2021

Additional, larger projects are in the works. The Vulcan area will be the site of the Travers Solar Energy Project, the largest of its kind in Canada, with 1.5 million solar panels set on grazing land. In contrast to singular energy initiatives, RenuWell’s model would create a distributed network of solar installations that won’t strain the capacity of the existing electrical grid. Hirsche, who began his career in the oil and gas industry, said the constantly improving economics of the renewable energy market is exciting given the typical pattern of diminishing returns derived from oil and gas projects. “With the renewable energy projects, it’s like every project we put on the ground costs less and produces more than the project before,” he said. It’s something Peers also recognizes. “We aren’t really trying to drive the transition [to renewables], but we see it happening and we may as well join,” he said. A DEAL WORTHMAKING? For the RenuWell Project to succeed in both the short- and long-term, farmers must buy into the solar installation concept. Negotiations to sign the site lease for the solar installation on Molnar’s farm were being finalized in February. Lease payments from RenuWell will have to be similar to what he would receive from an oil company, he said. “It basically has to be in line with an oil site, or it’s not feasible for a farmer,” he said. Solar installations are also more land intensive than traditional oil and gas wells, covering the majority of the leased site with solar panels. In comparison, a traditional oil well site can be planted and farmed right up to the well head, Molnar said. A solar farm takes up the entire lot with solar panels and equipment. Still, he prefers seeing solar panels installed on lots like his, rather than on large tracts of prime farmland, he added. The project is slated for completion in fall 2021, and Hirsche is very confident that the RenuWell Project will meet its commercialization goals. RenuWell has worked for the past year to identity sites for further solar installations. “We’re working on a suite, probably about 10 or 20 sites that are tagged for commercialization if the pilot succeeds,” said Hirsche. Tourigny of Canadian Solar agreed it is possible to make much greater strides in renewable energy production. “Our longest-term plan is to really showcase in Alberta how this business model makes sense as a broad approach,” he said. He added it could be implemented on other brownfield and underused sites across Canada. “I think we’ve already proven that our model can really stretch reclamation dollars.” Don’t give mycotoxins a chance to hide. Make the invisible visible with the new AgraStrip ® Pro WATEX ® and AgraVision TM Pro. The AgraStrip ® Pro WATEX ® test system enables the rapid and simple on-site quantification of mycotoxins in a variety of agricultural commodities. Learn more at romerlabs.com . Fast, simple mycotoxin testing. Romer Labs Inc | 130, Sandy Drive, Newark, DE 19713, U.S.A. T +1 302 781 6400 · E office@romerlabs.com · www.romerlabs.com