Last week, Enbridge and First Solar announced that the Sarnia Solar Project, an 80-megawatt (MW) solar project in Ontario, Canada was fully installed and commercially operating. Sarnia Solar Project is now the largest operating photovoltaic facility in the world.

The project includes about 1.3 million thin film solar panels from First Solar on about 950 acres of land with an annual yield of about 120,000 MWh.

The First Solar PV solar panels used in the Sarnia Solar Project were “designed to create the smallest carbon footprint of any PV technology available” and the project produced no waste. At construction peak, 800 jobs were created by this project.

The facility is expected to create enough power for 12,800 homes. The Ontario Power Authority is buying the power generated from the plant under a 20-year contract. Ontario is happy and proud to be the home of this major solar PV project.

“The Sarnia Solar Project is an example of the kinds of renewable energy projects that have been developed under the Government of Ontario’s Green Energy Act,” said the Honourable Brad Duguid, Ontario Minister of Energy. “Ontario can now boast the largest solar farm in North America – it is projects like this one that are making us a leader in renewable energy and helping us all move towards a cleaner energy future.”

Enbridge an Energy Leader

Enbridge is a North American energy leader and listed as one of the world’s 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. It has “interests in seven wind farms, a geothermal project, four waste heat recovery facilities and a commercial application of integrated energy recovery and fuel cell technology.”

“Our investments in green energy are an increasingly important part of Enbridge’s business,” said Al Monaco, Executive Vice President, Major Projects and Green Energy, Enbridge Inc. “Over the last year, we added four new projects totaling $1.5 billion, increasing our total green energy investment to $2 billion and establishing a solid platform for attractive and sustainable long-term growth with a risk-return profile consistent with our Liquids Pipelines and natural gas businesses.”

In total, the green energy projects Enbridge has invested in have an energy generating capacity of 850 MW, enough to power about 292,000 homes.

First Solar a Solar Energy Leader

First Solar, which we have written about many times here on Cleantechnica, is a leading solar photovoltaic manufacturer. First Solar developed, engineered, constructed, and will operate and maintain Sarnia Solar Project.

“Completing the world’s largest PV power plant demonstrates the migration of solar PV toward utility scale,” said Frank De Rosa, First Solar’s senior vice president of North American project development. “With this project, we expect to install 145 MW this year in North America.”

cleantechnica.com