Station to break even after 15 years

Leduc, Alberta’s new solar carport will soon be ready to generate electricity, with electric car chargers to follow in six months.

Construction is almost completed on the carport in the parking lot on 49th Street and 49th Avenue, near ATB, and the City of Leduc has received funding for half of the Level 2 and 3 car charger station cost ($50,000, from the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program) to be built at the same location, with the city footing the rest of the bill.

The city has also given the green light to staff to apply for funding from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC), which, if successful, will fund the purchase and installation of another two car chargers at the Leduc Recreation Centre.

“Construction is complete, with just electrical hookups left to finish. The carport should be generating electricity right away,” said Shawn Olson, the city’s director of engineering.

The carport has solar panels on top, which will receive solar energy and generate electricity back to the grid, to be used when people plug their cars into the electric car chargers.

City council approved the construction of the carport and chargers last June. Olson said the capital cost of the carport will be paid for from the energy it generates over a 15-year period.

Olson is estimating the order for the car chargers to take six months, with installation to start in July at the earliest. Though there are several non-city owned Level 2 electric car chargers in Leduc, there are no Level 3 car chargers, with no Level 3 chargers existing along the Highway 2 between Red Deer and Edmonton.

“Adding Level 3 charging capabilities to our city will help draw people to Leduc,” Olson said, adding that Level 3 chargers can refill a vehicle in half the time, with up to two cars charging at once.

Olson informed Leduc council of the possibility and likelihood of receiving funding from the MCCAC grant on Jan. 24, and was granted permission to apply for funding. Olson said work will begin on a design for chargers at the LRC location, so it can apply for the MCCAC grant.

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