Overview
Irrican
In October 1988, the provincial government introduced the Small Power Research and Development Program. The program assured a guaranteed price and market for power thus making small power projects in Alberta viable.
In order to benefit from this program, IRRICAN Power Ltd. was formed to develop hydro power projects on the existing water conveyance infrastructure in Southern Alberta.
The hydro power projects are located at several sites along the St. Mary Main Canal and benefit the St. Mary River Irrigation District and the Raymond Irrigation District who own IRRICAN Power.
Irrican Power also operates 4 Solar sites. The first two solar sites are located at Bow Island Lateral 12 and 40 Mile reservoir Pump station. These arrays were built to offset our energy use costs. Irrican’s two latest solar sites, are located near Barnwell and Fincastle on orphaned well sites.
Irrican Hydro Power Plants
Drops 4, 5, 6
The Drops 4, 5, & 6 power plant is located on the SMRID Main Canal west of the town of Raymond on the North boundary of the Milk River Ridge. There are a total of twelve drop structures located on this reach of the canal. The drop structures can be developed individually or in combinations of two or three in order to make the best use of the available resource.
Power can normally be produced during the irrigation season, between April and October of each year, with peak energy production occurring between June 15 and August 15.
Raymond
The Raymond Reservoir Hydro Plant is located on the south shore of Raymond Reservoir, approximately 6 km south of the town of Raymond. It is supplied by a diversion canal constructed upstream of Milk River Ridge Reservoir.
Water optimization is a paramount consideration In the operation of this facility. Providing all the water required by the agriculture users and maximizing the energy output has been achieved through the use of a total system management philosophy incorporated Into the control system utilized by Irrican.
Chin
The Chin Chute Hydroelectric project is an 11-MW facility that is being developed under the Small Power Research and Development Program by Irrigation Canal Power Cooperative Ltd. (IRRICAN Power).
Water, which is currently conveyed in the SMRID Main Canal down Chin Chute and into the Chin Reservoir, is diverted through a penstock and powerhouse and then out to Chin Reservoir.
Irrican Solar Plants
Bow Island Lateral 12 and 40 Mile
These arrays were built to offset Irrican’s energy use costs. Bow Island Lateral 12 came online in 2020, and the solar site at 40 Mile was brought online in 2021.
RenuWell
Our two latest solar sites, located near Fincastle and Barnwell, were facilitated through a partnership with the MD of Taber and Iron and Earth, Medicine Hat College, Sky Fire and Consultco, and the Orphan Well Association. The sites are part of an ongoing effort to repurpose orphaned oil well sites and convert them into micro generation Solar sites which produce just over 1 mega watt each.
Renewable Energy Credit (2025)
A Renewable Energy Certificate is a market-based instrument that verifies that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from a renewable source. By purchasing RECs, organizations and individuals can claim the environmental benefits of renewable energy, helping to reduce their carbon footprint and support renewable energy development.
Irrican’s Hydro has ECOLOGO certification for its 3 Hydroelectric plants. ECOLOGO is managed by UL Solutions and involves a rigorous third-party auditing process to verify that the facilities, practices, and output meet stringent environmental standards. Production is also registered in other tracking systems like the Western Electricity Coordinating Council Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WECC / WREGIS) and the Alberta Carbon Registries to allow for the sale of our green attributes as either Emissions Performance Credits (EPC’s) or Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
Raymond Hydro and Chin Hydro came online in June 1994 and 100% of production meet the standard for UL 254-1996 Alternative Source Electricity Generation. Drops 456 Hydro came online in June 2004 and 100% of production meets the standard for UL 2854 – 2003 Renewable Low-Impact Electricity Products.
The sites are located on the SMRID Main Canal in Alberta, Canada and 100% of the REC’s are from Hydroelectricity. IRRICAN is not enabled to market or sell any of our solar production as REC’s.
Alberta has set a 2025 grid displacement factor of 0.3478 meaning that for IRRICAN’s approximately 96,500 MWh of production in 2025, we are offsetting 33,562 tonnes of CO2e. Our 2025 production is close to our 20-year average of 101,000 MWh/year.