IPP Northland Power has achieved financial close for the 80MW/160MWh Jurassic battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Cypress County, Alberta, CA.
Northland says that all necessary financing has been secured, and construction will start soon.
The Jurassic BESS has signed construction agreements and a 15-year fixed-price capacity contract. The IPP expects the BESS to be commercially operational in late 2026.
Northland estimates the total cost at approximately CA$120 million (US$85.84 million). Construction costs will be funded through non-recourse project-level financing, existing cash, and available liquidity.
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Jurassic BESS is expected to contribute approximately CA$15 million of annual adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
The BESS will also be the largest in the province of Alberta.
According to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Alberta was the largest producer of crude oil in the country in 2023.
The majority of the province’s crude oil production comes from the oil sands in northern Alberta.
Peer-reviewed American academic journal, Science, found in a 2024 report that air pollution from the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta was 1,900% to over 6,300% greater than what the oil sands industry reported.
Alberta has, however, seen its fair share of renewable energy projects and investments.
In 2023, the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) noted that Alberta saw 92% of new wind, solar and energy storage capacity connected to the country’s grid.
This included 130MW of energy storage. Utility-scale energy storage developer Enfinite installed 100MW, part of its nine-project Alberta portfolio.
Energy-Storage.news reported on the increased applications Alberta received for renewable energy projects in 2024 (Premium access), following its 7-month moratorium on 1MW+ green-energy developments, which was lifted in the first quarter of that year.
Toronto, CA-headquartered Northland was founded in 1987 and claims to now own or have an economic interest in 3.2GW of gross operation generating capacity, with 2.4GW under construction.
The company has a 72% stake in the 250MW/1,000MWh Oneida BESS (Premium access), Ontario’s flagship BESS project.
That project is still under construction and expected to be completed sometime this year.
Northland also owns Jurassic Solar+, which is in late-stage development and will be paired with the Jurassic BESS project.
The solar portion of the project has a 220MWac capacity.
