Tribe in Canada Will Use Wind Energy to Power 30,000 Homes
The First Nation community of Beardy’s and Okemasis has agreed with the alternative energy company SkyPower to develop a large wind park. It will be known as the Willow Cree Wind Project. According to the primary source for this article, construction of the park might begin as soon as 2010. The turbines will be built on approximately 12,000 acres of land located near Big Quill, a community near the town of Wynyard, Saskatchewan. The planned wind park will produce 100 megawatts of energy, enough to power 30,000 homes per year.
Chief Rick Gamble elaborated upon the other benefits that the Willow Cree Wind Project will provide. He is quoted as saying,
We chose to partner with SkyPower because of their extensive experience in wind development with First Nations. Moreover, the Willow Cree Wind Project will generate a reliable source of local benefits, including job training programs, employment for the local community, as well as have a positive impact on local tourism. The proposed development will be an important driver of local economic development for years to come.
The tribe’s partner SkyPower is the largest alternative energy company in Canada. One of its more notable projects is in Ontario. SkyPower commenced construction earlier this year on what it claims will be the largest solar park in North America. If all goes as planned, it will be finished late next year.
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In addition to the wind project with SkyPower, the Beardy’s and Okemasis community also entered several weeks ago into an $800 million oil deal with Taiwan, along with four other First Nation tribes. The tribes are currently in the process of securing land in northern Saskatchewan via treaty entitlements. If they succeed in obtaining the land rights, then the exploration for oil will follow given Taiwan’s investment.
Both the wind power project and the oil deal are aimed at helping the Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation community to have greater economic power and energy independence. They are setting a good example for other countries and communities, by backing up their desire with action.
Read More About Alternative Energy in Canada on the Green Options Network:
Ontario to Build Massive Solar Farm
Photo Credit: Yuki Yaginuma on Flickr under a Creative Commons license
Colder Air in Northern parts of Canada is denser, and produces more power than warmer air in the states, but we are in trouble when it comes to solar power - we have very little. The Northern Plains Indians are a resourceful bunch, and they will profit greatly in the coming depression. I wish them well.
I’m enjoying these posts on renewables — keep beating that drum, relating example after example of people who’re actually implementing such projects and enjoying great success.
For many years the widespread perception that environmentalists are all about yelling “No!!” has been like a pair of concrete galoshes dragging our issues down into the political margins. A lot of the polling and opinion research I’ve seen over my years in NRDC’s inner circle shows that people are much more likely to listen to environmentalists if we give them the kind of thing you’re providing here — solutions, solutions, positive solutions.
Personal favorite of this kind: last summer’s OnEarth article Falling in Love with Wind, about the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in upstate New York, the largest in the eastern U.S.
The First Nations community has struck a deal with Taiwan to invest in oil drilling in Saskatewan? Is this correct?
I thought we were trying to find alternative sources of energy.
[...] Original Article: Tribe in Canada Will Use Wind Energy to Power 30,000 Homes [...]
[...] Tribe in Canada Will Use Wind Energy to Power 30,000 Homes [...]
[...] may not be such a bad one. One energy company, for instance, has reached an agreement in Canada to build a large wind farm that will bring economic benefits to local First Nations people. This is not a direct payout from the company’s profits, but it shares Mr. Kim’s [...]