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This Canadian airport has plans to become the largest airport-based solar farm in the world

The new solar farm at Edmonton International Airport is set to be 627 acres—or 313 football fields' worth—of solar panels.

JP Karwacki
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JP Karwacki
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By the end of 2022, Edmonton International Airport has plans to become the world's largest airport-based solar farm of 120 megawatts. Called Airport City Solar, the project is expected to be a complete sustainable makeover for the airport that will provide power not only to the the airport's own operations, but to the Edmonton Metro Region as well.

The solar farm will be a total of 627 acres—or 313 football fields—and will be the largest development of its kind at an airport.

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Something special is coming to EIA. We will soon be home to Airport City Solar, the world’s largest solar farm built at an airport! Airport City Solar will dramatically transform the west-side of EIA’s lands, create jobs and bring in a potential new power source for airport operations and the Edmonton Metro Region. An agreement with Alpin Sun will see the company develop a 627-acre, 120-megawatt solar farm. The new solar farm reflects EIA’s on-going commitment to economic development and diversification, along with its core value of being dedicated to sustainability. Airport City Solar is expected to begin construction and be operational in 2022. EIA is the largest airport in Canada by land size and we’re using that to create something unique. Once complete, the facility will produce enough electricity for 27,000 homes and be bigger than 300 CFL football fields in size. #flyeia #yeg #solarpower #solarpanels

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Consisting of 340,000 solar panels, the project will generate approximately 200,000 MWh per year, with an annual offset of an estimated 106,000 tonnes of CO2. 

"We’re Canada’s largest major airport by land size so we have the space to do something very special – the largest solar farm at an airport in the world," said Tom Ruth, President and CEO Edmonton International Airport. "This will create jobs, provide sustainable solar power for our region and shows our dedication to sustainability.” 

It's all part of the airport's ongoing initiatives to achieve greater sustainability, adding to a growing list of environmental initiatives that include water filtration, efficient aircraft heaters, greater accuracy in energy and carbon footprints, LEED certification, joining the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program that includes 288 airports worldwide, and more.

The company that will be helping the airport achieve this is Alpin Sun, a European-based renewable energy company involved in the implementation of four gigawatts' worth of solar projects across the globe. In only 10 years the company has been instrumental in projects found in Europe, Chile, Canada, and the USA.

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