MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - A transmission line route option to link a proposed Kneehill County solar farm to an existing AltaLink transmission line in Mountain View County has been removed from consideration due to its higher impact compared to other routes.
AltaLink began consultation with stakeholders on the Lone Butte Solar Connection project in January 2025.
The project hinges on the approval of another proposed project to build a 450‑megawatt (MW) solar power plant and the Lone Butte 1801S Substation that would be located approximately seven kilometres southwest of Torrington in Kneehill County.
The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) placed the proceeding into abeyance on May 15 following an application to construct and operate the solar plant that was submitted by Lone Butte Solar Project Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Acciona Energy Canada Global Inc.
AltaLink provided an update recently on the project to construct up to 17 kilometres of new 240 kilovolt transmission line that would connect the substation to an existing line in Mountain View County west of Highway 791.
The latest routes were presented to the public at open house scheduled for Wednesday, July 23 in Torrington at the Ron Gorr Memorial Arena.
“Altalink has removed the North route option from consideration as it has the highest impact to stakeholders and agriculture in the area,” the company noted in its update.
As a result of input received during preliminary consultations and further engineering, AltaLink said it has identified a preferred and alternate route for the proposed new transmission line, which will only be built if the solar power plant is ultimately approved by the AUC.
Both routes start at the substation on Range Road (Rge. Rd.) 265 in Kneehill County and run south to Township Road (Twp. Rd.) 320.
While the alternate route continues straight west along Twp. Rd. 320 to the transmission line, the preferred route continues south along the border between Mountain View County and Kneehill County to Twp. Rd. 314, then heads west to the transmission line.
According to AltaLink’s update, the preferred route is an option that would run south over a distance of approximately 17 kilometres and presents a lower potential to impact residential properties as well as a reduced risk of bird collision as the line crosses fewer and smaller waterbodies, which support lower numbers of waterfowl and water birds.
Although the alternate route would have a smaller footprint with a shorter length of 13.5 kilometres that follows the same alignment as the preferred route for approximately three kilometres, AltaLink’s update said this line presents an increased risk of bird collisions because it crosses more waterbodies.
Both options will be primarily located within road allowances, minimizing impacts to existing land uses and providing access for construction, operation and maintenance of the transmission line, AltaLink said in its update.
Large poles known as monopole structures are being proposed for most of the transmission line, and would be between approximately 30- to 40-metres (98.4- to 131.2-feet) tall and require approximately 15 metres (49.2 feet) of right-of-way.
To accommodate longer distances over water body crossings, proposed in some areas are H-frame structures that would reach heights of between 24- to 37-metres (78.7- to 121.4-feet) tall and also require approximately 20 metres (65.6 feet) of right-of-way and have tensioned cables called guy wires that are designed to provide stability to free-standing structures.
