Big Sky Solar Field / Firefly Substation Pad
Client:
Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Americas Inc.
Location:
Acadia Valley, Alberta
Year:
2024
Project Scope
Whissell served as General Contractor for the civil works associated with the Big Sky Solar Field in Acadia Valley, Alberta, and was subsequently awarded the Firefly Power and Energy Services Inc. substation pad construction. The project involved large-scale site preparation across an agricultural landscape to support the installation of a utility-scale solar energy facility.
- 180,508 m³ of earthworks and site preparation including topsoil stripping, common cut and fill operations
- 16 km of gravel access road construction; construction of two laydown yards
- 38 inverter pad constructions to precise grade tolerances
- Substation pad construction for Firefly Power and Energy Services Inc.
- Culvert installation; dust and erosion control measures throughout
- Topsoil reseeding and final reclamation upon completion
- Compaction testing and quality documentation throughout
Challenge & Mitigation
Delivering precise inverter pad grades across a large agricultural site required careful GPS-guided grading operations and consistent compaction testing to meet the structural requirements for solar panel mounting systems. Managing dust and erosion control across an active 180,000+ m³ earthworks program in a semi-arid environment required a proactive ESC program that was continuously updated as the work face advanced.
Value Add Solution
Whissell's self-performance of both the solar field civil works and the substation pad construction under a single contract provided RES with a single point of accountability for the entire civil scope. This eliminated interface risk between separate contractors and allowed Whissell to sequence the substation pad work to align with the broader solar field construction program, supporting the owner's overall project commissioning timeline.
