Engineering, project management firms selected for unique project

City Council passed a motion regarding the selection of vendors for engineering and project management of the City’s concentrating solar thermal energy project at their Council meeting on Monday, June 20.

The decisions mark one of the first steps in the project, which will produce energy mined from the sun’s rays, converted into steam, and then connected to the City’s existing electrical generation system. It will produce approximately one megawatt of electricity. The project is the first of its kind in Canada.

International company Worley Parsons was selected as the engineering firm. Cascade Management of Saskatoon was chosen to handle project management.

“There are many steps to go to bring this project to fruition, however, these firms are experienced and specialized, making us confident they will guide the City successfully through the process,” said Gerry Labas, Chief Operating Officer of the City of Medicine Hat’s Energy Division.

Worley Parsons has experience handling these types of initiatives, including working with the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Florida, which is one of the few worldwide that connects the technology with a gas-fired power plant, as will be the case in Medicine Hat.

Project management firm Cascade Management has experience with the City of Medicine Hat’s electrical generation system as they oversaw the purchase and installation of the LM6000 electric generators to the City’s power plant. The firm also assisted with funding applications and project plans for the City’s solar thermal initiative during the research and approval phases.

The concentrating solar thermal project was announced in November 2010 as a partnership between the City of Medicine Hat, the Government of Alberta and Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation (CCEMC). Each partner contributed $3 million to the $9 million project.