Indigenous owned wind and solar power projects coming to southern Sask.

WATCH: A wind and solar facility is in the works for south central Sask. Mick Favel has more on the collaboration between Sask. Power and two Indigenous groups.

Two new wind and solar facilities have been announced for south-central Saskatchewan and SaskPower has revealed the selected partners who will develop, own and operate the plants.

The selections are Potentia Renewables Inc., and their partners the Meadow Lake Tribal Council as well as Mistawasis Nehiyawak First Nation.

“To make power from wind. To make power from the sun, what Creator has made it’s a no brainer,” said Jeremy Norman, the Chief of Flying Dust First Nation.

Norman added, that the projects are also one step closer to self sufficiency for the Nations involved.

The 200-megawatt Rose Valley Project will be located east of Assiniboia and will be made up of 28 wind turbines.

The 100-megawatt Southern Springs Solar Project will be located south of Coronach. It will be made up of 230,000 solar panels.

Both are scheduled to be in operation by late 2027.

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During the Golden South Wind Project near Assiniboia, roughly 40 per cent of the working crew was from Saskatchewan and there are plans to hire more local workers for the new projects.

“It’s better to hire local. That’s something we fully intend to do. I think we can do better than 40 per cent,” Ben Greenhouse, the executive director of Potentia Renewables Inc. said.

Both Indigenous partners will own 51 per cent of the projects, the largest Indigenous ownership to date for a project this size in Saskatchewan.

All power generated will be purchased by SaskPower for over the next 20 years.