CALGARY, Alberta October 24, 2022 – GP JOULE, announces the start of construction of the Joffre solar plant with the ground-breaking ceremony in Joffre, Lacombe County. This is the first project to enter construction of the 100 MWp portfolio of projects developed with the PACE Canada LP joint venture. The 47 MWac project will create 88450 MWhs of clean energy per year, which is enough to power more than 12,000 Alberta homes each year and will be built by GP JOULE Canada, which has 11 years of experience in this territory and is now part of the GOLDBECK SOLAR group.
This project and the following 3 projects: Youngstown, Hanna and Caroline will create a need for new skills in Alberta and a significant contribution to the tax base that can grow Alberta’s rural economies.
The construction of the Joffre solar plant alone will support the equivalent of [400] full-time construction jobs and 8 full-time operation and maintenance jobs over the life of the project. The project will provide a considerable property tax and local purchasing contribution to the municipality over the life of the project. Solar energy projects like Joffre’s also create an opportunity for diversification and income certainty for the landowner as they work on innovation to adapt to the impacts of climate change and on increasing agricultural yields from land under solar lease.
The development and expansion of PACE Canada LP.’s clean energy portfolio will support Alberta’s position as Canada’s leader in clean, sustainable and affordable energy to increase its attractiveness as a location for forward-thinking, climate-conscious businesses.
Alberta is a key market for renewable energy. The construction of the Solar farm Joffre requires more than C$70 million of investment and, with the government’s continued support for the growth of this sector, PACE Canada LP intends to raise and deploy significant funds in Alberta’s clean energy sector over the coming years.
Joachim Goldbeck / CEO of GOLDBECK SOLAR Group and Director of PACE Canada, adds: “Canada and Alberta in particular are very promising markets for us. We started with project developments in the PACE Canada LP in March and recently acquired the specialised EPC unit GP JOULE EPC NA to complete our clean energy strategy for Canada. With them as part of our GOLDBECK SOLAR group, we want to build many more projects like this in Alberta and across Canada.
Barbara Shepherd, Reeve of Lacombe County, said in support of their first utility-scale project: “Lacombe County welcomes PACE Canada LP to our community. With access to the electrical grid just across the fence from the site, we believe it is the perfect location for the ‘first of its kind’ project in the county.”
GOLDBECK SOLAR is an international company specialising in the turnkey construction of commercial rooftop and ground-mounted photovoltaic systems. The range of services covers the entire value chain, from project development and targeted project financing to the construction and integration of storage technologies, technical operation and asset management of the plants, as well as the direct sale of clean energy.
The Joffre project is being constructed by Canadian EPC, GP Joule NA.
GP JOULE PV Canada Corp. and GP JOULE PV USA Inc. were subsidiaries of the Germany- based GP JOULE Group until 09/09/2022 when they were purchased by GOLDBECK SOLAR. The vertically integrated EPC company supplies turnkey PV and energy storage power plants with proprietary single axis tracking and fixed tilt racking systems. With more than 200 MWp of projects built in Canada and the northern US states over the past 10 years, GP JOULE EPC NA specialises in servicing utilities and C&I clients. Founded in 2011, the company is headquartered in Toronto, ON, has had a presence in Calgary, AB since 2016, and most recently established a location in Halifax, NS in 2022. Its US satellite office is located in Los Gatos, CA.
PACE Canada LP is a partnership jointly and equally owned by Pathfinder Clean Energy, a global clean energy development and investment company, and GOLDBECK SOLAR, a German company specializing in the construction of large-scale solar power plants, based in Germany
The joint venture has a focus in Canada on utility scale solar, battery energy storage and green hydrogen production. PACE Canada undertakes and manages the entire project value chain, from site selection through permitting, planning, financing and offtake agreements, to be a market-leading platform for clean energy development and investment in Canada.
PACE Canada intends to develop and own and operate over 500MW of clean energy projects within three years and expand its interests in the country into energy storage, green hydrogen.
