South Bruce Peninsula Council is supporting a proposal for a large solar farm in Allenford.
They voted in favour of a resolution that supports the company submitting a proposal to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)
The project is in its early stages.
It would be called Sauble River Agrivoltaics and would be on about 60 acres of rural land.
Roberto Caputo from Compass Greenfield Development, which develops solar and battery energy storage systems made a presentation to South Bruce Peninsula council Tuesday, explaining they would be using land leased to them by a farmer.
He said the project property would also be used for sheep grazing, and eventually, possibly hand-picked crops in addition to being used for solar generation.
“This is a commonly used practice across both Canada and the US,” said Caputo, adding, “As part of phase two our goal is to move towards collocating this site with crop production.”
Caputo noted the land isn’t considered prime agricultural land. It’s designated ‘rural’ in Bruce County’s official plan.
The Independent Electricity system Operator is forecasting a 75 per cent increase in electricity demand between 2025 and 2050 in Ontario, and it’s looking for energy projects to support.
This project has yet to be awarded a contract by the IESO. Caputo hopes that will happen in early 2026, with construction beginning in 2027 and it being operational by 2028. The power coming from it would tie into Hydro One infrastructure ay Highway 21, a couple of kilometres away.
He says’s they’ll plant trees to block the view of the facility which would be remotely monitored 24/7, and notes the company will be responsible for decommissioning the site at the end of its lifespan.
A public meeting on the proposed solar farm is set to be held July 31st at the Allenford Community Centre at 6:30 p.m.