An entirely owned and operated First Nations solar project set to provide renewable energy to a major mining operation in Saskatchewan is underway.
The $82 million Wicehtowak Solar Project will provide power directly to the K+S Potash Canada mine near Bethune through a 30-year agreement with SaskPower.
“That’s exactly what I want to prove to our own people, to our leadership and to [the] government that given the opportunity, we can do things for ourselves,” expressed Don Ross, chief executive officer for George Gordon Developments Ltd.
The project was made possible through the Crown’s new Renewable Access Service (RAS) program which allows large industrial customers to operate independently while using SaskPower transmission lines.
“We are trailblazing here. This is a first. SaskPower has never had a power producer not sell power to SaskPower,” Ross said. “That was changing a Crown corporation’s policy…We changed their policy. We had to get their board of directors to change policy, which they did. Then we had to negotiate a RAS agreement, which we did.”