Henvey Inlet develops largest wind farm in a First Nation

By Joey Krackle

HENVEY INLET FIRST NATION – Chief Wayne McQuabbie and  Henvey Inlet First Nation leadership worked long and hard and were very enthusiastic when the First Nation membership approved the signing of the lease with a private sector partner to enable and initiate the development of its wind farm.

“This is a major development in the field of green energy in Canada which will directly benefit our membership and the economy of the surrounding region,” says Chief McQuabbie.  “We look forward to construction, operation and a promising future. We hope our project will inspire other First Nations and all Canadians to take further steps to develop a greener planet in this time of climate change.”

Henvey Inlet First Nation took its first significant step towards developing the largest wind farm on a First Nation in Canada by developing and ratifying its Land Code which enables it to opt out of sections of the Indian Act and initiate the management of its own land, resources and environment.

In 2009, Henvey Inlet First Nation was able to operationalize the management and control of its lands, resources and the environment by developing its land use plan, its own laws and policies governing their use and its own ability to provide environmental assessment permits based on its firm commitment to Anishinabek environmental stewardship.

Having obtained its own management and control of its land, resources and environment, in 2010 Henvey Inlet established the Nigig Power Corporation which is wholly owned by this First Nation. Nigig with the strong leadership and support of Chief  McQuabbie and the of its CEO, Ken Noble, secured the largest Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) contract in Ontario and began the development of the largest First Nation wind energy centre in Canada. The Henvey Inlet Wind Energy Centre (HIWEC) has a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).

Following community approval as enabled under its Land Code, in October 2014, Nigig Power Corporation entered into a joint venture partnership with Pattern Energy Group LP (Pattern Development) by signing a 50-50 lease to jointly develop, own and operate the 300MW Henvey Inlet Wind Energy Centre. The lease was the milestone in initiating this $1 billion project which is the largest such project on a First Nation. It will harness up to 91 turbines and will be able to generate enough clean energy to power 90,000 homes per year and avoid 770,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide which is equivalent to taking 150,000 cars off the road each year and conserve enough water to meet the needs of about 21,500 people per year.

This project is scheduled to produce 500 local construction jobs, more than 20 permanent operational jobs and approximately100 indirect jobs. Construction will begin in 2016 and the operation start is projected to be in 2018.

In addition to these jobs, this wind energy project will create many other economic spin-off benefits for the Henvey Inlet First Nation and the surrounding area. Current estimates predict that the Henvey Inlet Wind Energy Centre is scheduled to inject approximately $10 million in annual net benefits to this First Nation.

Henvey Inlet leadership and its citizens will be able benefit from its share of the profits. Following full consultation, the Chief and Council and the membership will determine the use of the project proceeds. Examples of possibilities include: expanded band services, especially in areas of health, education, elder services and support, youth services and support, language instruction, retention and housing; payments directly to citizens as a “dividend”, subsidization of hydro bills or other uses.