Innogy is to supply electricity from its 27MW Canadian Vauxhall solar farm to West Fraser Timber’s sawmills in Alberta, Canada.
The 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) will start in May this year, Innogy said.
About 45,000 megawatt-hours of electricity will be delivered each year from the project, also known as Prairie Sunlight 3.
The project is located in southern Alberta and is currently in the commissioning phase.
Innogy senior vice president renewables operations onshore and solar Katja Wunschel said: “We aim to continue to expand renewables worldwide, by working on PPA-based projects and partnerships such as this one with West Fraser.
“The PPA enables us to operate our Vauxhall solar farm without any provincial subsidies. It shows that climate protection is possible under current market conditions.”
Innogy commercial director Keith Moseley said: “This deal is exemplary for the modern, competitive renewable energy world.
“Besides the fact that we can run our solar farm on a merchant basis, it allows West Fraser to run their production in a climate-friendly manner by significantly cutting carbon emissions.”
West Fraser vice resident pulp and energy operations Keith Carter said: “West Fraser has a track record of investing in innovations focused on sustainable energy systems and developing renewable energy sources.
“Today 75% of our energy is renewable, and that will grow further as a result of this solar power partnership.
“We’re pleased to partner with Innogy on this project, and to secure competitively-priced renewable energy to sustainably supply our Alberta sawmills.”
Innogy said it is also close to completing construction of a second 30MW solar farm nearby in Hull called Prairie Sunlight 2.
Innogy subsidiary Belectric is responsible for the entire construction, and will also take on operation and maintenance of the solar farms.