LAC LA BICHE - The Lac La Biche region could be home to a large, $100 million solar farm project soon.
On Dec. 16, the Owl River Métis Community Association and Culture Pathway Development Corp. made a partnership announcement in Edmonton regarding a renewable energy project that is anticipated to get underway in 2026.
The Owl River community is located on the north shore of Lac La Biche Lake about 27 kilometres from the hamlet of Lac La Biche.
According to Jack Quintal, president of the Owl River Métis Community Association, the project will be done in three phases, starting with a five-megawatt solar farm established east of Lac La Biche next to the railway and near the municipality’s water treatment plant. The next two phases involve the construction of a connected 20-megawatt and 40-megawatt solar farm to be located on a parcel of Crown land in the vicinity of Owl River, near Highway 881.
Quintal said the five-megawatt solar farm could potentially get underway in the fall of 2026, while the facility housing the 20-megawatt and 40-megawatt solar farms close to Owl River is slated to be built in separate phases from 2028-2029.
“The five-megawatt - that’s basically like a showcase on what we’re going to be doing with the 20 and the 40 as well,” he told Lakeland This Week.
Quintal says the five-megawatt farm is expected to generate 80 to 100 jobs, while the 20-megawatt solar farm will have 300 to 350 workers and the 40-megawatt farm employing between 500 to 700 staff. In addition to economic benefits, the solar farms will also help foster environmental sustainability by generating clean energy and power from the sun.
“It’s going to be good for the community of Owl River,” he said, adding that the project will also benefit the entire Lac La Biche region due to the abundance of employment opportunities.
The price tag that is being attached to the solar farm project, Quintal said, runs anywhere from $100 to 120 million. It is being funded through shareholders and investors, and officials with the Owl River Métis Community Association are also hoping that they will be able to receive some additional grant funding from the provincial and federal governments.
In preparation, The Owl River Métis Community Association and their partners will be consulting with residents of Owl River and adjacent communities, as well as ensuring that the proper permits are acquired, and approvals are in place before shovels go into the ground.
“That’s definitely what we need to do to move forward,” he said. “Without that, we can’t move.”
Quintal said there have been plans for quite a while for a project like this in the Owl River area. The community needed a firm to work with to make the solar farm becomes a reality, and this is how the partnership between the Owl River Métis Community Association and Culture Pathway Development Corporation developed.
“I’ve been talking about this for the last probably six, seven years . . . I’ve never found the right people to move with,” he stated.
The partnership announcement between the two organizations took place at the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton. When asked why the event was held at one of the city’s fanciest hotels instead of in the community, Quintal explained that officials with the Owl River Métis Community Association wanted to do one large conference that would draw more exposure by being hosted in the provincial capital.