Shell and Silicon Ranch to build solar project in Canada
Calgary, AB, November 9, 2021 − Silicon Ranch and Shell Canada today announced plans to build a 58-megawatt solar farm adjacent to Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park Scotford near Edmonton, Alberta. The solar farm will be key in helping to transform Scotford into one of Shell’s five energy and chemicals parks, providing customers with lower-carbon fuels and products.
“We are transforming Scotford into a world-class site that will provide our customers with lower-carbon fuels and the products they desire,” said Mark Pattenden, Shell Canada Senior Vice President, Chemicals and Products. “Partnerships like this will enable Scotford to contribute to Shell’s overall plan to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society.”
Silicon Ranch, the North American solar platform for Shell and one of the largest independent power producers in the United States, will build, own, and operate the solar farm - its first in Canada - with all power generation capacity dedicated to Shell’s Scotford refinery for the next 25 years.
“Today’s announcement represents a meaningful milestone for Silicon Ranch as we expand our operations into Canada,” said Reagan Farr, Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and CEO. “Shell’s commitment to purchase the power from our facility will catalyze our own significant capital investment in Strathcona County, creating hundreds of local jobs during construction and generating critical tax revenues over the life of the project. Silicon Ranch is proud to collaborate with our partners at Shell to advance the global energy transition to a net-zero planet, and we look forward to serving the Shell Scotford refinery and to becoming Alberta’s newest corporate citizen.”
The project will be the first large-scale solar installation in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Construction will begin in 2022, and the solar farm is expected to begin providing electricity to the refinery by the fourth quarter in 2023. Once built, the project will provide 20 per cent of the refinery’s energy needs with renewable electricity.
Shell’s transformation of Scotford into an energy and chemicals park complements the site’s leading positions in energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Renewable power and CCS will enable Scotford to process new feedstocks such as bio-oils or waste oils to significantly reduce CO2 emitted in the production of fuels today. Scotford’s transition into a fully integrated energy and chemicals park is anticipated to happen over the course of a decade.
Additional quote:
Rod Frank, Mayor, Strathcona County & Chair, Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association: “Strathcona County prides itself on being a champion for stakeholders who choose to invest here. This new project demonstrates that transformation and economic diversification is underway right here in Strathcona County’s world-scale energy cluster, which remains one of our top priorities.”
Notes to editors
- Scotford is currently home to Canada’s most energy efficient refinery. The Scotford refinery uses 25 per cent less energy than the average Canadian refinery, according to the Solomon Energy Efficiency Index (EII)TM.
- Shell Canada previously built a 5-megawatt solar farm at Scotford that will start up this fall and offset emissions from the Shell-owned chemicals plants.
About Shell Canada
Shell has been operating in Canada for more than 100 years and remains committed to the country’s energy future. Shell’s footprint in Canada includes a 40% interest in LNG Canada; shale gas positions in British Columbia (Groundbirch) and shale gas and liquids positions in Alberta (Gold Creek); the Scotford Complex in Alberta, identified as one of Shell’s five high value energy and chemicals parks; investments in cleaner energy including the first waste to-low-carbon-fuels plant in Québec; and a growing Retail business with around 1,400 Shell-branded sites across Canada, among others.
About Silicon Ranch Corporation
Silicon Ranch is the North American solar platform for Shell and one of the largest independent power producers in the United States. The company has distinguished itself by pioneering new markets for utility-scale solar and has expanded its footprint with nearly 150 operating facilities across more than 15 states from New York to California. Silicon Ranch owns and operates every project in its portfolio and has maintained an unblemished track record of project execution, having successfully commissioned every project it has contracted in its history. In recognition of its holistic approach to land management, which the company has trademarked Regenerative Energy®, Silicon Ranch was named 2020’s “Most Forward-Thinking” company by Solar Power World. To learn more, visit siliconranch.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Cautionary note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Group” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. “Subsidiaries”, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations”, respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This announcement contains the following forward-looking Non-GAAP measure: Adjusted Earnings. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of these forward-looking Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures because certain information needed to reconcile the above Non-GAAP measure to the most comparable GAAP financial measure is dependent on future events some which are outside the control of the company, such as oil and gas prices, interest rates and exchange rates. Moreover, estimating such GAAP measures with the required precision necessary to provide a meaningful reconciliation is extremely difficult and could not be accomplished without unreasonable effort. Non-GAAP measures in respect of future periods which cannot be reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measure are calculated in a manner which is consistent with the accounting policies applied in Royal Dutch Shell plc’s consolidated financial statements.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”, “ambition”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “goals”, “intend”, “may”, “objectives”, “outlook”, “plan”, “probably”, “project”, “risks”, “schedule”, “seek”, “should”, “target”, “will” and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 (available at www.shell.com/investors and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, November 9, 2021. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.
LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70
![Silicon Ranch and Shell will construct a solar farm to help power the Scotford refinery.](/en_ca/about-us/projects-and-sites/scotford/shell-and-silicon-ranch-to-build-solar-project-in-canada/_jcr_content/par/gallery/mediaplayer/image.img.960.jpeg/1636473891488/solar.jpeg?imwidth=960)
Silicon Ranch and Shell will construct a solar farm to help power the Scotford refinery.
more in about us
Who we are
Learn about our business and people, and how we grew from a small shop in London nearly 200 years ago.
What We Do: At a Glance
Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies. We employ around 3,100 employees in Canada.