A new $9 million solar thermal project has City officials excited about the opportunities it brings.
A site has been chosen, the tenders are out and it won’t be long until the City’s $9 million solar thermal demonstration project will be up and bagging sunbeams.
The site will be just south of the old Riverside Waterslide, which will house a collection system the size of a football field to convert the sun’s rays into steam to be used in the electricity generation process. Alderman Ted Clugston, the chair of the Energy Committee, said he sees a lot of tourism opportunities with this project, especially with school kids. “I see every kid from Calgary, Lethbridge and all around getting on a bus and coming down here,” he said. “I see them coming to Medicine Hat because we have something of interest for education.”
The project has also drawn the attention of the technological world as new advances will be used. Sue Dyer, who oversees the project, said Medicine Hat will be making large contributions to the sparse body of knowledge about these new technologies. “We take a look at applying solar concentrator techniques and applying it to a steam generator,” she said. “There could be several other applications, and we’re just at the beginning of that learning curve.”
The project has received funding from both the provincial and federal governments, and should be operational this time next year.
