Article content

Communities that want to develop their own renewable energy projects will get a financial leg-up under a new program announced by the province Thursday.

The Community Generation Program will see $200 million from the carbon tax over the next 20 years to support the installation of locally generated electricity projects.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Renewable energy projects get a boost Back to video

The idea is that community groups, municipalities, agricultural societies, co-ops, universities, schools, Indigenous communities and other groups can partner on small-scale projects such as wind, biomass, hydro or solar.

With recent leaps and bounds in renewable technology, Environment Minister Shannon Phillips is expecting enthusiastic take-up of the funds.

“We have a really great resource, so the return to communities for solar projects — in particular between five and 25 megawatts, depending on where they’re sited — can be very, very good,” she said on her way into the house Thursday, adding that Calgary’s solar resource is the same as Rio de Janeiro’s.