SaskPower, the public electric utility company in Saskatchewan, has begun constructing a new 100-megawatt solar power plant near the city of Estevan in the southeast of the province. The facility is set to be operational by 2026.

The public company stated in a press release that this new facility will be the largest solar power plant in Saskatchewan and will be capable of supplying electricity equivalent to about 25,000 homes.

The CEO of SaskPower, Robyn Bandia, explained that the goal of this project is to help the province achieve carbon neutrality.

"This new solar power facility will play an important role in our path to net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier," Bandia added.

SaskPower selected Iyuhána Solar LP to build and operate the new facility.

This project is the result of a partnership between Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure, Saturn Power, Iyuhána Solar, and the Ocean Man First Nation.

The project enables financing, construction, and operation of this solar plant. The produced electricity will be sold to SaskPower under a 25-year contract.

Iyuhána Solar expressed its happiness to be entrusted with the opportunity to build the largest solar power plant in Saskatchewan.

"We look forward with great anticipation to building and operating this renewable energy project and supporting clean energy in Canada," affirmed Mazen Al-Turk, director of Iyuhána and also CEO of Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure.

The CEO of SaskPower, Robyn Bandia, said he is proud to work with Indigenous communities and praised the role these communities play in successfully expanding the use of solar energy in Saskatchewan.

The leader of the Ocean Man Nation, Connie Big Apple, believes the new solar power plant will provide new opportunities for her community, especially in the fields of job creation and wealth.

"We are proud that this project, capable of producing clean energy, is called 'Iyuhána (Energy) Solar,' which means in Nakoda language 'all people' or 'each one of us'," said Connie Big Apple, "for we believe that every being is connected (to each other), and therefore we must take care of one another."

SaskPower intends to add at least 3,000 megawatts of clean electricity, generated from wind and solar power plants, to its grid by 2035.