A major milestone was celebrated at the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant on Tuesday. The plant officially unveiled its $4 million solar power project. 

The development of the project began in August of 2022. It uses fixed panels located on both sides of the plant’s access road to produce solar power. 

The panels will generate 1,800 kilowatts of AC power for the facility. The project will power the plant’s administration building and reduce the plant’s energy consumption by about 10 per cent. 

The system has no batteries and does not feed back into the SaskPower grid, meaning the solar power generated will solely be used by the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant. 

“Our power bills are about in the neighbourhood of $200,000 to $250,000 a month, so up to $3 million a year in power. This should reduce it by $250,000 a year. So, over 15 years we should have payback or as power rates go up, the payback will be sooner,” said Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant CEO Ryan Johnson. 

The Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant is jointly owned by the City of Regina and the City of Moose Jaw and run by a board of directors. Regina owns 74 per cent of the facility, while Moose Jaw owns 26 per cent. 

For the City of Moose Jaw, the project aligns nicely with its Climate Action Plan. The City of Moose Jaw has solar panels on almost all its municipal buildings. 

“4,100 solar panels producing enough energy to run the administration building here is a significant accomplishment we’re proud to be partners in,” Mayor Clive Tolley said of the water treatment plant’s project. 

The Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant is located about 30 km northeast of Moose Jaw along Highway 301, 17 km north of the Highway 1 intersection.