EDMONTON — Alberta is blocking off large sections of the province to renewable power development.

The government has released a map defining which parts of the province are to be off-limits to wind and solar power.

The regions include a corridor along the entire eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains stretching as far east as Calgary.

The boreal forest around Wood Buffalo National Park in the province’s far north has also been roped off. 

And there are large zones around areas of southern Alberta where such projects will be subject to visual impact reviews.

Those zones are centred around four protected areas — the Cypress Hills, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. 

None of those zones are expected to affect ongoing oil and gas or forestry activity. 

Alberta had promised to define the no-go zones earlier this month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2024.

The Canadian Press