Economic Development
Vulcan County offers a variety of opportunities for business development. Though the main sector is agriculture, we have increasing opportunities in renewable energy developments, and tourism. Plus, we have a brand new Industrial Park, with fully serviced commercial and industrial lots available for purchase.
Things are happening in Vulcan County!
Community Profile
Industries
Agriculture
Our County is home to over 4,400 square kilometers of agricultural lands, with a wide variety of commodities produced, including but certainly not limited to: wheat, barley, oats, flax, yellow peas, chick peas, fava beans, canola, and alfalfa. The majority of production is dryland, but there are areas of irrigation to the North and East, where BRID canals service areas around Queenstown, and east of Lomond.
- Richardson Pioneer: 403-485-6696 (Vulcan)
- G3 Canada: 403-956-9355 (Carmangay)
Vulcan County is also home to three seed cleaning associations, and one mobile seed treatment operations.
- Carmangay Seed Cleaning & Mobile Treating: 403-643-3656
- Vulcan Seed Cleaning Association: 403-485-2463
- Milo Seed Cleaning Association:403-599-2150
Wind Projects
Blackspring Ridge Wind Project: Located approximately 8km East of Carmangay, the project consists of 166 towers capable of producing 1.98MW each, for a total production capacity of 300MW. The project is spread across 183 square kilometers of land, but the footprint is barely a fraction of this, as the wind towers only take up 0.1 acres (405 sq. meters) for their foundations. 405 sq. meters X 166 towers = 67,230 sq. meters or 0.67 square kilometers. This project was proposed in 2009 and was operational as of May 2014. For more information, see here.
Buffalo Plains Wind Project: Located approximately 2km from the Village of Lomond, this project consists of 83 towers capable of producing 6.2 MW each with a total production capacity of 514.6 MW. Similar to Blackspring Ridge, the project is spread across a large area; 148 square kilometers of land, but the footprint will be a fraction of this. If we estimate these larger towers will require twice the footprint of those at Blackspring Ridge, then 810 sq m X 83 towers = 67, 230 sq meters or 0.67 square kilometers. This project was proposed in 2019 and received final approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission on June 23, 2022. Construction is planned to commence in Spring 2023. For more information, see here.
Solar Projects
Travers Solar Project: Located approximately 8km Southwest of the Village of Lomond, the project consists of 1,322,460 solar photovoltaic modules and be capable of producing 465 MW. This project has been built on 23 quarter sections of land with a total footprint of approximately 14.89 square kilometers. This project was proposed in 2018 and operational by January 2023. For more information, see here.
Vulcan Solar Project: Located 3km Southeast of the Town of Vulcan, and capable of producing 22MW of power, this project has been built on a single quarter section. They have also applied for and been approved a Battery Energy Storage System component to the project, which will be capable of storing 16MW in a 32 megawatt hour battery energy storage system. The total footprint is 0.65 square kilometers. The project was first proposed in 2018, and expects to be fully commissioned by October 2023.
Georgetown Solar Project: Located approximately 7km Northwest of the Hamlet of Mossleigh, this solar facility will consist of 433,000 bifacial solar panel modules capable of producing 230 MW of electricity, as well as a Battery Energy Storage System with a capacity of 100 MW for 200 Megawatt hours. The project is proposed to be built on 7 quarter sections of land, with a total footprint of approximately 2.21 square kilometers. This project was proposed in 2020, and received approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission in November 2022. Construction is planned to commence in September 2023. For more information, see here.
Kirkcaldy Solar Energy Centre: Located approximately 5km South of the Town of Vulcan, and adjacent to the Hamlet of Kirkcaldy, this project has a proposed capacity of 350 MW and will be located across 11 quarter sections. This project received Alberta Utilities Commission approval in November 2021, however they do not have any local approvals, and a construction start date is still unknown.
Enterprise Solar Project: Located approximately 4km Southwest of the Town of Vulcan, this facility will consist of approximately 157,000 bifacial solar panel modules capable of producing 65 MW of electricity over 6 quarter sections of land. The project received Alberta Utilities Commission approval in July 2021, however they do not have any local approvals, and a construction start date is still unknown.