One of Canada's largest-ever solar power projects is being built in partnership with a Saskatchewan indigenous band.Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure LLC (GSI), one of the renewable energy subsidiaries of Libra Group, announced January 22 that Iyuhána Solar (Iyuhána), a GSI-led partnership with Saturn Power Inc. and Ocean Man First Nation, has been awarded a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to construct and operate a 100-megawatt utility-scale solar facility in Saskatchewan.The project, developed in partnership with Ocean Man First Nation, will be one of Canada's top ten solar facilities by size and is the largest PPA in Canada since 2015. Iyuhána plans to invest approximately $200 million to construct the solar facility, which it will operate, supplying generated power to the principal municipal utility company, SaskPower, for 25 years.Located in the Rural Municipality of Estevan in southeast Saskatchewan, this emissions-free solar facility will produce enough power for the equivalent of approximately 25,000 homes.“We are proud to bring the transformative power of solar energy to Saskatchewan by working with partners such as Ocean Man First Nation,” said Mazen Turk, CEO of GSI. “This unique collaboration shows the power of renewable energy to harness resources and empower communities responsibly. This work is core to our ethos as a Libra company, and we look forward to continuing to help support a clean energy future across Canada and beyond.”GSI is one of four renewable energy subsidiaries of Libra Group, and the parent company has a renewable presence in 10 countries with approximately 3.5 GW of energy developed and under development. This is the second partnership between an indigenous community and a Libra renewable subsidiary.As a founding partner, Ocean Man First Nation will have an ownership stake in Iyuhána Solar. Band members will also receive specialized training to maintain the solar facilities and employment opportunities with the project. Iyuhána will also provide post-secondary scholarships, internships, and direct research projects in clean energy to benefit the community. “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,” said Chief Connie Big Eagle of Ocean Man First Nation. “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 Wikipedia, Ocean Man First Nation has 15 different reserves. Its on-reserve population in 2019 was 146, while 415 live off-reserve. The The Nakota, Cree, and Saulteaux Band Government created a renewable energy company in 2019 called Second Wind Power. The name Second Wind Power reflects the band's history of relocating, re-establishing and starting over as a new community since 1989. Saskatchewan’s clean power supply mix has predominantly consisted of hydro and wind. This is the first of many planned solar projects in the province. By 2035, SaskPower plans to support approximately 3,000 MW of new renewable energy capacity in the region.“This new solar facility will play an important role in our path to net-zero by 2050 or sooner,” said Rupen Pandya, SaskPower President and CEO.“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.”
