The government of the western Canadian province of Alberta has decided to increase the budget of its $36 million Residential and Commercial Solar Program, in order to meet growing demand.
“Albertans are eager to install solar, and provincial programs make it that much easier,” Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Parks, Shannon Phillips said.
According to the statement, the province’s installed PV capacity at the end of 2018 was around 35 MW, while more than 950 installations have been connected to the grid under the scheme since it was launched in April of last year.
The government has raised solar rebate levels by 15% for residential projects from $.075/watt to $0.90/watt, and by 25% for non-profit organizations, from $0.75/watt to $1.00/watt. Furthermore, it has also raised per-project cap for businesses and non-profits from $500,000 to $1 million.
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It has also allocated an additional $7.5 million to help Alberta municipalities develop solar projects within their communities through the Alberta Municipal Solar Program. “Managed by the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre, first-time applicants to the program will also receive an additional rebate incentive of $0.25/watt,” the Albertan government said.
Larger solar projects are being supported in the province through the competitive procurement process known as the Renewable Electricity Program (REP), of which the latest two rounds were announced last April. The program utilizes a mechanism similar to the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme in the U.K.
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