Neoen, a prominent renewable energy company, and Garden River First Nation have been awarded a 20-year solar contract by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) in its competitive Long-Term 2 Energy Supply procurement process.
The contract covers 100% of the output from the future 253MW-peak (MWp)/200MW-alternating current solar farm located east of the city of Sault Ste. Marie, which is set to be the largest solar farm in Ontario. Its annual energy output to the provincial power grid is projected to be 38,000MW-hours (MWh). Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with a target in-service date of 2030.
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The project will be co-owned by Neoen and Garden River First Nation in a 50% equity partnership and is anticipated to deliver significant economic benefits including jobs and local spending.
This is the first utility-scale renewable energy project for Garden River First Nation, which, along with its members, has long identified net-zero as a community priority.
Since the first iteration of its Indigenous Community Energy Plan in 2017, the Nation has pursued solar projects, participated in the microFIT programme through the Ontario Power Authority, and explored opportunities to reduce electricity consumption using solar solutions in collaboration with funders and partners at the IESO.
Neoen was awarded two contracts by the IESO totalling 318MWp/250MW and including a second 65MWp/50MW solar project, which will be co-owned by Matachewan First Nation.
The awards bring Neoen’s total secured capacity in Ontario to 718MW and to 968MW across Canada. Its portfolio also includes Fox Coulée, a 93MWp operating solar farm in Alberta; Mino Giizis, a 157MWp solar project in Saskatchewan, which is being delivered in partnership with the Anishinabek Power Alliance; and a 400MW/four-hour battery storage project in Ontario on the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.
In addition Neoen operates close to 200 assets across three continents. They are located in Australia, where the country’s largest solar farm (460MWp) is located; in France, including the country’s most powerful solar farm (300MWp) in Cestas; and in Finland, with the country’s largest wind farm (404MW) in Mutkalampi.
