Ocean Man First Nation part of new solar power project near Estevan

The Ocean Man First Nation is set to play a major role in Saskatchewan’s largest solar facility to date.

The First Nation partnered with Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure and Saturn Power Inc. to create Iyuhána Solar, and that company has been selected by SaskPower to finance, build, own, maintain and operate the new facility in the Estevan area.

Construction is slated to begin in 2025, with the 100-megawatt facility expected to come online in December of 2026. The operators will sell power generated at the facility to SaskPower through a 25-year power purchase agreement.

According to a release from SaskPower, the project will produce enough power for around 25,000 homes.

“This new solar facility will play an important role in our path to net-zero by 2050 or sooner,” SaskPower president and CEO Rupen Pandya said in the release. “We are proud of our ongoing collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and the critical role they are playing in the successful expansion of renewable energy in our province.”

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In 2021, two other solar energy projects on the Ocean Man First Nation – which is located about 140 kilometres southeast of Regina – started contributing to Saskatchewan’s power grid.

Because the Ocean Man First Nation is a founding partner of Iyuhána Solar, its members will get specialized training on how to operate and maintain the facility. That will create employment opportunities in the community.

Iyuhána Solar also is to provide scholarships, internships and direct research projects in clean energy at post-secondary institutions in the province.

“Our partnership with GSI and SaskPower will bring great opportunities for Ocean Man First Nation, including employment and revenue that will provide stability and sustainability for our Band,” Ocean Man First Nation Chief Connie Big Eagle said in the release.

“We are proud that this project, which is able to generate clean power, will be known as Iyuhána Solar, which in Nakotah translates to ‘everyone’ or ‘all of us.’ This is derived from our Nakotah belief that everyone and everything is related and therefore we must care for each other.”

According to a release from Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure, the project will be one of Canada’s top 10 solar facilities by size. The company added that the power purchase agreement is the largest with a utility in Canada since 2015.

Iyuhána Solar plans to invest approximately $200 million in the project.