SunMine engineer thinks the future looks bright—and green

Michel de Spot (in cap) is pictured at the SunMine groundbreaking ceremony. — Photo courtesy Michel de Spot

Michel de Spot, president and CEO of the Ecosmart Foundation, a Vancouver-based, sustainability consultancy group, received the biggest surprise of his career this spring when he was presented with the National Award for an Engineering Project or Achievement from Engineers Canada for his role as principal engineer of the SunMine.

Located in Kimberley, B.C., the 1.05-megawatt solar-tracking PV installation, which was done in partnership with Teck Resources and the City of Kimberley, is the largest solar project in British Columbia and the first to sell power to BC Hydro. Not only did de Spot receive the award from an organization representing 280,000 of his peers, which is a huge honour in and of itself, the $5.4 million SunMine beat out several high-profile, multi-billion-dollar projects, such as the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver and extensions to Vancouver’s SkyTrain and Calgary’s C-Train metro lines.

“It was a huge surprise, because we won against all of these projects across Canada,” de Spot said. “I think it’s a very interesting move, giving a prize to a relatively small project that has even more to do with sustainability than technology. It’s a sign of the times that engineers recognize this type of project. I’m pleased not just for myself but for everyone involved.”

The increased emphasis on sustainability that the award highlights is mirrored in de Spot’s career as well. A mechanical and electrical engineer by trade, de Spot started out over four decades ago in “black” rather than “green” sectors, working on coal-fired power plants, oil refineries, zinc smelters and municipal waste incinerators, among other projects.

Born in Belgium and fluent in six languages, de Spot’s career took him all over the world, including Europe, Brazil, Angola, Iran, Algeria, Peru and the Congo. Along the way, he also spent some time in the academic arena as a professor and working on projects for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the World Bank. However, the farther he progressed through his career, the more he began to reflect on the way the projects he was overseeing were impacting the environment.

“The turning point was when I had grandchildren, so I have to look at the future,” he said. Such concerns led him to co-found the Ecosmart Foundation in 1999, a non-profit corporation that advises companies on sustainable building practices, renewable energy and climate change.

In addition to his concerns about the legacy we are leaving to future generations, de Spot said there’s an esthetic side to going green as well.

“When I worked in coal and oil, the Japanese called it DDD: difficult, dangerous and dirty. It’s a joy to work on solar, because you really see how good it is, how clean it is compared to coal. Working with coal is hot, dusty, dirty, and you have to wear a gas mask. The same goes for the oil industry, such as working in the oilfields in Angola. It’s dangerous. There’s no question it’s much easier to work on solar.”

When de Spot started out, engineers didn’t really have much choice if they wanted to work in energy production. It was either coal, oil, gas or nothing. Nowadays, he’s excited to see that engineers have many more options.

“Thirty years ago, I used to go to big computer trade shows and see Bill Gates trying to sell copies of Windows. Today, I go to similar conferences on solar energy and see the same kind of energy from people," de Spot said. "Smart young people are trying to figure out how to improve solar energy, storage, improve efficiency, and lower the costs. When you see reports that forecast the future market for solar, it’s enormous. There are trillions of dollars coming. And jobs. Nice jobs and clever jobs. You won’t have to shovel coal anymore.”

Drilling down

NameMichel de SpotCompanyThe Ecosmart FoundationMust reads Notebooks from the Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin Greatest career moment"An engineer has a lot of highs and lows. That's how you learn. The SunMine is one of the best projects I have done, simply because we had the opportunity to work with a mining company and the community of Kimberley and the legacy it will leave behind. It is something that will probably last longer than me."Quotable"Do you want to work at creating the future you want to happen or let the future happen and then wonder how it happened?"