It’s taken five years but finally, the Tsilhqot’in Nation Solar Farm is up and running.
Located 80 kilometers west of Williams Lake, on two hectares of the Riverwest Sawmill brownfield, the largest of it’s kind in the province is now feeding into the grid and operational.
Yunesit’in First Nation Chief Russell Myers Ross said having the solar farm will prove to be very beneficial now and in the future
“For the Tsilhqot’in Nation and the Dandzen Corporation, I think for us it’s one of the first economic development projects that we’re able to generate revenue so for us I think we look at as really as seed money to building more of an economic base for ourselves”.
Ross has been involved with the project from the very beginning and is very happy to see it succeed.
“When I helped start the project, for myself I intended to try to bring power to my community, and the project evolved into this so I’m happy with it. It’s been five years, sometimes you aren’t able to get to the completion of projects and for this one, I’m happy it made it this far and it succeeded”.
The 3,456 solar modules will convert the sun’s rays into electricity which will be sent into the BC Hydro grid running along Highway 20.
It will generate about fifteen hundred megawatt-hours of electricity per year during its 25-year expected lifetime.