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An indigenously owned solar farm in remote northeastern Alberta, labeled the largest project of its kind in Canada, celebrated its grand opening this week, bringing greater independence from renewable energy to a long-time diesel addicted community .
The project is owned by Three Nations Energy, a joint venture of Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Fort Chipewyan Métis Association, all located in the Fort Chipewyan hamlet.
The 5,760 solar panels will provide the remote northeastern Alberta community about 25 percent of its energy needs, the company says.
Prior to the solar park, Fort Chipewyan’s roughly 1,000 residents received their energy from the ATCO-owned diesel power plant, which annually burns three million gallons of fuel transported on icy roads or carried on river barges.
The solar park is expected to replace 800,000 liters of diesel per year, equivalent to around 2,376 tons of carbon emissions.
“We worked together and we made it,” Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation chief Allan Adam said Tuesday at an event celebrating the completion of the second and final phase of the project.
“We work with the sun, we work with the wind, we work with mother nature and we work water for the children of the future – to give them a better life, a cleaner life.”
ATCO, the Alberta-based utility company, collaborated with indigenous owners throughout the project, including design and engineering. The utility owns 1,500 panels built during the first phase in June 2019.
“This is a time of great pride for all of us as a community. We have been working together very hard over the past two years,” said Blue Eyes Simpson, vice president of the Fort Chipewyan Métis Association.
‘We are switching to renewable energy’
With the completion of the 2.2 MWh project, about 25 fewer tankers will travel the icy winter road that connects the community with Fort McMurray, 220 kilometers to the south, the company says. In the summer, the community is only accessible by plane or barge.
Local leaders say the ice road is becoming increasingly unreliable due to climate change, as research shows northern Canada is warming nearly three times faster than the global average.
“This energy project brings a lot of happiness to our community because it has less fuel to carry down the road,” Mikisew Cree First Nation Head Peter Powder said Tuesday.
The renewable energy project is the largest remote and off-grid solar park in the country, according to the federal government. Three Nations Energy says the profits will be reinvested in other green energy and education projects.
“We’ve always relied on fossil fuels, but we’re switching to renewable energy,” Powder said.
The $ 7.76 million project was funded by the provincial and federal governments. The federal government provided $ 4.5 million and the Alberta government added the other $ 3.3 million.
Federal Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan called the solar park a model for Canada’s energy future.
“We welcome your determination to build energy capacity to reduce community dependence on diesel, to reduce pollution and to address a climate crisis that has had a particularly severe impact on your region,” O’Regan said in pre-recorded observations, broadcast during a virtual panel discussion on Wednesday.
ATCO will purchase the solar park’s energy under a long-term purchase agreement and supply it to the local electricity grid, which is disconnected from the provincial grid.
“Indigenous people must have a stake in resource projects if there is a healthy future for our vital resource industry,” said Rick Wilson, Alberta’s minister of indigenous relations, in a pre-recorded video.
“Projects like this will benefit generations to come.”
Three Nations Energy has no plans to stop with the solar park. The company is looking to add a wood-fired heating business and sustainable hydroponic food production to the community, with the help of project managers from the Greenplanet Energy Analytics solar farm.
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