The Owl River Métis Community has entered into an agreement with Culture Pathways Development Corp to build three solar power plants in Lac La Biche, which are expected to generate a combined 65 megawatts of clean energy once they go online.
The partnership was officially announced at a Dec. 16 press conference at Edmonton’s Fairmont Hotel Macdonald.
The plans consist of a small five-megawatt, medium 20-megawatt and large 40-megawatt plant, which a handout provided to attendees said will be used to power hydroponic agriculture, AI and blockchain data centres and green hydrogen production.
Jack Quintal, president of the Owl River Métis Community, which is located at Lac La Biche’s northeastern shore, told attendees that the development will be “huge for our youth, our Elders [and] our culture that we need to bring back.”
“Aboriginal people always believe in good practice, and to me this is good practice, because we’ll take the energy from the sun and utilize that in our homes and businesses,” he told reporters.
Quintal anticipates that the project will create between 880 and 1,150 permanent jobs in Lac La Biche once all three plants are built—between 80 and 100 at the five-megawatt facility, 300 and 350 at the 20-megawatt plant, and 500 and 700 at the 40-megawatt facility.
Speaking to reporters, Culture Pathways CEO Charlie Chen noted that Lac La Biche is a suitable location for these plants, because it’s located outside the 70,000 sq-km “buffer zone” for renewable energy projects in western Alberta the provincial government imposed earlier this month.
It’s also outside 82,000 sq-km of provincially mandated “visual impact assessment zones,” which include Wood Buffalo National Park in the north and Cypress Hills Provincial Park in the south. Renewable energy projects in these areas require an automatic review of their potential impact on the surrounding landscape.
“The Owl River area is [an] unimpacted zone, so that is a great area for us to put the solar power plants,” explained Chen.
The abundance of agricultural land in the area is an added bonus, which enables the solar plants to provide clean power to local greenhouses, and northern Alberta’s chilly climate “makes it a perfect location to build data centers,” he said.
According to Chen, the 5-megawatt plant will be the first to get built, with construction beginning in 2026, while the larger plants are expected to take a few years before getting the approvals necessary to begin construction.
Chen said his company plans on applying for regulatory approval for the small plant next month, but representatives have already reached out to the Alberta Utilities Commission, which regulates electricity development in the province.
Building all three plants is expected to cost between $100 million and $120 million over a span of three to five years, Chen added.
He said Culture Pathways is in talks with Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank for Canadian Entrepreneurs and the Canada Investment Bank, as well as a Hong Kong mutual fund, to secure funding for the project.
The project has the support of the Lakeland Métis Nation, which is also based in Lac La Biche, and the Fort McKay Métis Nation, both of which had representatives speak at the announcement.
Owl River, Lakeland and Fort McKay are all members of the Alberta Métis Federation, which consists of seven communities that broke away from the Métis Nation of Alberta in 2020.
“It’s vital that we support each other, whether it’s renewable energy, environmental stewardship or economic development, our shared vision helps create a stronger collective future,” said Lakeland Métis Nation president Melina Power.
“Projects like the solar initiative are excellent examples of how partnerships and collaboration can inspire and benefit everyone involved.”
Dwayne Roth, CEO of the McKay Métis Group, a company owned by Fort McKay Métis Nation, said the partnership between Owl River and Culture Pathways is an example of how Indigenous communities are playing an increasingly active role in economic development on their lands.
“It used to be that communities would get together with a joint venture partner, sign on the dotted line and basically do nothing else, sit back, and collect a couple little royalty checks, maybe as their partner, with no real investment, no real say in the development,” said Roth.
He identified former premier Jason Kenney’s 2019 establishment of the $1-billion Indigenous Opportunities Corporation as a turning point, which enabled Indigenous communities to take an active ownership role in projects on their lands.
“This particular initiative is part of that trend,” Roth said. “The Owl River Métis actually own the land that this is going to be developed on, so it’s a true partnership on Métis land.”