Garden River and Matachewan First Nations have received provincial power contracts to advance two separate solar farm projects in northeastern Ontario through joint venture arrangements with Neoen, a global renewable energy developer.
At 200 megawatts, Garden River, adjacent to Sault Ste. Marie, will be a co-owner of, what could be, Ontario’s largest solar farm.
Both Garden River and Matachewan were awarded 20-year contracts by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to feed the provincial power grid, according to an April 20 news release from the company.
Both projects are 50-50 joint ventures between the communities and Neoen, a leading French producer of renewable energy in wind, solar and battery storage with operating or under-development facilities in Australia, Europe and North America, capable of generating 9.3 gigawatts or 9,300 megawatts.
The IESO awards bring Neoen's total secured capacity in Ontario to 718 megawatts.
The release indicated the Garden River project will be sited 55 kilometres east of the Sault. Construction begins in 2028. The in-service date is 2030.
Its peak power capacity will be 253 megawatts, capable of contributing more than 380,000 megawatts of power to the grid each year once operating.
Garden River Chief Karen Bell did not respond to an interview request.
To date, the largest operating solar farms are the 100-megawatt Grand Renewable Solar Project in Haldimand County in southwestern Ontario and the 100-megawatt Kingston Solar Project in eastern Ontario. Samsung Renewable Energy is a partner in both.
The Matachewan co-owned project will be smaller, generating 50 megawatts at a site 20 kilometres southeast of Temiskaming Shores, according to the news release.
The solar farm is estimated to add more than 100,000 megawatts of power to the grid each year.
That’s not insignificant, said Jason Batise, president of Matachewan First Nation LP, considering many of the hydroelectric dam facilities that Matachewan has an interest in only produce five to 10 megawatts.
Construction is expected to start in 2028 with an in-service date of 2029.
By way of financing, Batise said Matachewan will have to come up with 50 per cent of the project costs, which could run in excess of $100 million. They hope to do so by accessing federal or provincial loan guarantee programs to cover their half-stake in ownership.
With the contract in hand, Batise said they intend to reach a definitive business agreement with Neoen within 30 days to present to IESO.
These projects are not big job generators, Batise said, with only a handful created for ongoing solar panel maintenance and some in construction for the property site preparation.
For the most part, Batise said they’re content be “silent partners” in this equity exercise and make a “reasonable amount of return” in benefitting from the sale of power to the provincial grid.
The Garden River and Matachewan projects are part of 14 IESO contract awards for renewable energy projects across Ontario, many on Crown land.
Batise said his community had four proposals in the IESO hopper and so far has been successful on two of them. The other project is a smaller 35- to 40-megawatt solar farm on the outskirts of Timmins in a partnership with Sitka Power along with Mattagami and Flying Post First Nations.
Batise said this opportunity surfaced last year when they fielded a call from Neoen’s Toronto office.
As part of the competitive bid process for the IESO’s Long-Term 2 Energy Supply procurement, Neoen was informed their project proposals would be looked upon more favourably if First Nations were included in their bids.
“They called Matachewan and the (Wabun) tribal council and we got to meeting with them over a number of months in the city last year and put the proposal together with a notional equity piece for the First Nations at 50 per cent,” said Batise.
“That’s how is started — an interested proponent paying attention to the offer from IESO and them looking around at willing communities to partner with — and we’re happy to do it. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for both parties.”
Matachewan and Wabun tribal council are well-known for the number of resource-sharing deals they’ve struck with mining and forestry companies operating in the traditional area.
But Batise said they’d like to expand their participation beyond the non-renewable resource sector.
“We’ve got to look to other things to expand our portfolios. What’s better than green energy?”
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