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Greening the grid: How a Cape Breton engineering firm is tapping into the future of power generation
Principle engineers at TriMac Engineering, brothers Joel MacNeil, P.Eng., and Andrew MacNeil, P.Eng., have offered their engineering consulting, sustainability and project management services to clients across the province for nearly a decade.
Partnering with Ontario company Solarbank Corporation to develop a seven-megawatt solar-panel garden near the Mayflower Mall in Sydney and a 10-megawatt solar garden in Enon, a rural community near Loch Lomond, as part of the provincial government’s newly announced Community Solar Program.
The Community Solar Program aims to open renewable energy generation to the market, calling upon non-profits, co-operatives, First Nations communities, municipalities, businesses, and academic institutes to submit solar garden project proposals. In line with the province’s plan to transition to 80 percent renewable energy by 2030, the Community Solar Program is looking to procure 100 megawatts of solar power, which will be distributed to interested parties on a first-come, first-served basis.
Alongside SolarBank, the co-developers, Joel and Andrew of TriMac, have enthusiastically stepped up to the task. As they await approval from the province, the TriMac team continues to seek additional sites for potential construction in hopes that the government will expand the program’s capacity to reach its ambitious targets.
If approved, the Sydney solar project could power up to 900 homes, and the Loch Lomond project could power about 1300 homes.
“This is the first community solar program in Canada,” says Joel. “It marks a big shift in the power generation landscape here in Nova Scotia, and there is a huge opportunity for engineering firms like us to tap into the future of power generation.”
Power generated from solar gardens under the Community Solar Program will be sold to Nova Scotia Power, the administrator, for a regulated fee. Nova Scotia Power’s ratepayers are then eligible to subscribe at no cost to solar garden sites for discounted power rates.
According to Joel, the target discount is about 2 cents per kilowatt hour, ranging from an 11-15 percent overall discount. Put simply, it’s renewable energy at a lower price — a win-win situation for all parties involved.
There have been several other large-scale renewable procurements in Nova Scotia, namely the Rate Based Procurement — comprised of 5 projects totalling 372 megawatts—and the Green Choice Program, with successful bids will be announced this September.
The Community Solar Program allows community groups and businesses to make solar energy more accessible to Nova Scotians. New gardens under the program are projected to be up and running by spring 2026, but TriMac is prepared to begin construction next year if their applications are given the green light.
Joel and Andrew consider their involvement in the program complementary to their previous work in energy efficiency and building on what TriMac Engineering is known to be: an environmentally responsible corporate citizen striving for continuous improvement and technical excellence.
“Creating a solar garden is consistent with our values,” says Andrew. “It’s rewarding to be able to actively participate in reducing our reliance on more traditional, thermal forms of power generation.”
Looking towards the future of energy production, Andrew remains aware of the unique difficulties Nova Scotia faces regarding power generation.
“We don’t have abundant hydro sources like Ontario and Quebec. We have hydro, but it tends to be in rivers and small waterways, so it’s always been a little bit harder to produce,” he says. “However, now that we’re seeing more wind and solar added to the mix, making our grid greener, these are big steps in the right direction.”
The Community Solar Program diversifies Nova Scotia’s energy portfolio, allowing electricity to be flexible and best suit factors often out of our control. On a day that’s less windy and sunnier, for example, energy can be produced from solar panels rather than wind turbines, and vice versa. It’s sustainability in action.
Joel best describes solar expansion as “capacity building.” The industry will respond to demand as more active sites become available on the grid. Universities and colleges will build solar curricula, firms will devote resources, and new contracting services will pop up across the province—potentially offsetting the economic hit that continues to reduce the coal industry.
“Solar is at the same stage wind was at about 20 years ago in Nova Scotia, when the public was becoming more aware of renewables and seeing turbines for the first time,” says Joel. “There’s a lot of curiosity about solar energy, and we want to educate people and encourage discourse.”
