August 19, 2024 – The Scotford Solar Farm adjacent to Shell’s Energy & Chemicals Park Scotford (near Edmonton) has reached commercial operation.

The 58-MW (MWAC) facility is the largest behind-the-meter solar project in Canada, says Silicon Ranch—the North American solar platform for Shell that will own, operate, and maintain the solar farm.

“At Silicon Ranch one of our guiding principles is that we are only successful when our partners are successful, and the Scotford Solar Farm represents a successful outcome for our partners at Shell Canada and our partners in Strathcona County,” said Reagan Farr, co-founder and CEO.

The solar farm is able to supply the Energy and Chemicals Park with enough energy to power about 20% of the refinery’s energy needs for the next 25 years, and provide 100% of its electricity needs at peak capacity.

To build the project, Silicon Ranch hired about 150 workers—emphasizing local hires—for the project’s construction, which began in Q3 2022 and was completed in Q3 of 2024.

Alltrade Industrial Contractors Inc. was selected as the EPC contractor the Scotford project.

“It has been a pleasure working with the [Silicon Ranch] team on their first Canadian project!” Kevin Ritzmann, Alltrade senior director, posted to LinkedIn. “Great work by the Alltrade team members and all of our project partners for another successful project built safely!”

The solar farm’s footprint is roughly 245 acres, which is equivalent to about 380 NFL football fields. The ~150,390 solar modules are rated to produce enough electricity to power about 3660 homes.

For Silicon Ranch, which is based in Nashville, Tenn., the Scotford project represents two “firsts”:

• First international solar project
• First large-scale solar facility installed in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland

The Scotford Solar Farm is the first of its kind in Canada, adds Silicon Ranch, and provides a replicable model for other energy and chemicals businesses to develop similar solutions to support their operations.