Federal and provincial officials announced funding May 22 for a power project in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan that will run on sawmill biomass waste.
The First Nations-owned Meadow Lake Tribal Council Bioenergy Centre will be the first plant of its kind in Saskatchewan and is expected to produce 6.6 megawatts of baseload electricity, sufficient to supply approximately 5,000 homes with “greener energy.”
Funding of $52.5 million for the project is through the federal Green Infrastructure Stream of the Canada-Saskatchewan Integrated Bilateral Agreement under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. A further $250,000 is being provided by the Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs' Community Opportunities Readiness Program.
The nine First Nations members comprising the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) are Birch Narrows Dene Nation, Buffalo River Dene Nation, Canoe Lake Cree Nation, Clearwater River Dene Nation, English River First Nation, Flying Dust First Nation, Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation, and Waterhen Lake First Nation.