SaskEnergy’s Town Border Station in southwest Regina is now operating completely on solar energy.

This comes as a part of the company’s commitment to cut emissions.

The Regina station is the first of several SaskEnergy facilities across Saskatchewan that will be converted to generate solar power over the next seven years.

The increased use of renewable electricity is one of the pillars of SaskEnergy’s emissions-reduction roadmap.

“SaskEnergy is committed to innovative and environmentally sustainable operating practices and this switch is an exciting step towards our goal to achieve a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030,” says Kim Elaschuk, Senior Communications Officer with SaskEnergy.

The project investment is roughly $350,000 and took roughly six months to complete in Regina. The facility is now running entirely on solar energy.

According to Elaschuk, the switch to solar energy will reduce SaskEnergy’s power bills and in turn, will save the company money.

This conversion included the installation of 176 solar panels which are generating 80,000 watts which is enough to power the station’s lighting and electric heat, as well as the equipment that controls the station’s odourization and distribution of natural gas to homes and businesses in Regina.

Installation of the system was completed by Saskatoon-based miEnergy—a majority Indigenous-owned business and one of Western Canada’s leading renewable energy companies.

During the day, the panels will capture enough solar energy to power the station, as well as generate excess energy that will be put onto the province’s power grid. At night, the station will take power from the grid, through a net metering agreement with SaskPower.

“SaskEnergy is also focused on reducing the amount of vented natural gas, optimizing its operating practices, and improving the efficiency of its compressors and other infrastructure,” says Don Morgan, Minister Responsible for SaskEnergy.

One such project is implementing new technology that captures vented natural gas from SaskEnergy’s transmission compressors, redirecting it into the engine air intake for use as a supplemental fuel which would make up about ten per cent of the fuel the engine takes.

This project won a national environmental stewardship award last year from the Canadian Gas Association.