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Deer Lake First Nation cuts ribbon on solar project
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Northwestern Ontario community hopes solar will power school, freeing up energy for five new homes
Posted: April 16, 2014
Last Updated: April 16, 2014
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A group of elders from the Deer Lake community cut the ribbon to mark the official unveiling of the solar array.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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The solar project consists of 624 panels in four separate arrays, and will provide more than 150 kilowatts of power for Deer Lake First Nation.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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Geordi Kakepetum, head of NCC Development, says the Deer Lake solar array is the first of what he hopes will be a series of projects to reduce northern First Nations' dependence on diesel.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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Deer Lake Chief Royle Meekis addresses the crowd before the ribbon cutting on the community's new solar project.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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A group of students from Deer Lake also took part in the ceremony that welcomed the solar array to Deer Lake First Nation. Left to right, Garrett Meekis, Milena Meekis, Jerica Meekis, Dazelle Beardy and Nola Meekis hold up pieces of the ribbon.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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Kyle Edginton, operations manager for Jazz Solar, calls the project 'ground breaking.'
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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Shirley Ostamas was hard at work in the kitchen preparing a traditional fish fry that followed the ribbon cutting.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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Deer Lake School principal Ila Mawakeesic says she hopes the money the school saves by going off-grid will pay for new computers for her students.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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A child plays in front of a vacant house on Deer Lake First Nation. It is one of five brand-new homes in the community that sit empty because there isn't enough electricity to power them.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
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Tracy Meekis, an employee at the school, is also one of the people waiting to move into a new home. With the power saved by moving the school off-grid, she hopes her family of six can move out of their two-bedroom house.
(Adam Burns/CBC)
A remote First Nation in the northwest has unveiled a groundbreaking new energy project.
On Tuesday, Deer Lake First Nation cut the ribbon on a solar project that will provide enough power to run the school in the community.
Chief Royle Meekis said the project has economic and social benefits for the community of about 1,000 people, located 580 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.
"We will save money on diesel fuel,” he said, “and, in the long run, it will save some dollars that we can use for educating our children."
In addition to its diesel generator, the community has a 490-kilowatt hydro generating station, constructed in 1998.
Taking the school off the grid will also give Deer Lake enough power so that families can move into five brand-new homes that have been boarded up for years.
Saves 'a lot of money'
The head of NCC Development, a company that formed three years ago to help First Nations reduce their reliance on diesel, was asked to help with the project.
"They're not able to get the full, adequate power from the diesel generators that they have,” Geordi Kakepetum said.
"They kinda looked at me and asked me to find ways and means on how we can begin to initiate more capacity at the community level.”
As part of that process, two Canadian companies — Jazz Solar and Canadian Solar — installed 624 solar panels on the Deer Lake School's roof.
"This is a first step towards an energy program that'll help the First Nation save a lot of money, and what they typically burn in diesel fuel in powering the community," said Jazz Solar operations manager Kyle Edgington.
Kakepetum said the Deer Lake project is only the first step in plans to establish solar capacity across the north.
This summer, he hopes to start another project in Fort Severn First Nation, Ontario's most northern community.
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