‘Given the opportunity, we can do things for ourselves’: An $82M Indigenous owned solar project begins

WATCH: After six years of work, George Gordon First Nation is breaking ground on its fully Indigenous owned and operated solar project. Sierra D’Souza Butts rep

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.”

Once fully developed, the 32-megawatt facility will generate renewable energy for 25 years - the equivalent of generating clean electricity to power over 5,600 Canadian homes annually, according to the Government of Saskatchewan.

SaskPower’s vice-president Rhea Brown said the project represents an economic opportunity for Indigenous people.

“SaskPower sees a bigger role for our First Nations in power generation. We know that we need to meet the needs of industry and industry often could do it faster than we can,” she said.

“We want to enable those types of partnerships and arrangements to facilitate economic development in the province, but for sure and certainly economic reconciliation.”

K+S Potash president Sam Ferris said the new development aligns with the company’s long-term growth plan at the Bethune mine.

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“Potash mines are multi-decade assets, so we plan to be mining here for far longer than that even. So hopefully there’s another opportunity even after that,” he said.

With support from all levels of government, Chief Shawn R. Longman said the project demonstrates a step towards reconciliation.

“There was a lot of partnership, a lot of work and a lot of meetings basically explaining who we are to industries as First Nation people that we have our treaty rights,” Longman said.

“We have rights to the land and to the development that’s taking place within our traditional territories. For us to achieve this milestone is very meaningful and it shows that hard work pays off.”

Ross said the new development will also provide generational change for Indigenous people.

“As we manage this project, not only are we doing all the construction ourselves, but we’re going to be doing all the operations, maintenance and servicing ourselves as well. There’ll be a lot of career opportunities for young people to get into this sector,” he said.

Other investments into the project include a $7 million loan from the Saskatchewan Indigenous Investment Finance Corporation (SIIFC).

With construction getting underway, the solar project is expected to start producing power by late 2026.