THUNDER BAY -- If the city wants to see a proposed solar panel manufacturer's business plan, the company wants a letter of intent first.
Energy North Bancorp's Ross Beatty gave city council ten reasons Monday night on why he wants to bring a 1,000-acre solar panel manufacturing plant to the city that could see 5,000 direct jobs and 10,000 construction jobs with no direct funding from the city itself.
Transportation, the potential in the Ring of Fire, an eager workforce were just a few of the reasons he gave.
“We have all the natural resources we need to make the panels right in your backyard,” he said.
Plus the largest consumer of solar panels, the United States, is just South of the city.
"We’re not asking for anything in particular. We wanted to introduce the concept to everyone,” he said.
The company says it has a fully-integrated manufacturing process that can produce panels with zero waste.
“The only waste that we’re going to have to deal with unfortunately is human,” Lee Judd.
Energy North just wants an LOI and city support in aspects like zoning. It also needs to secure enough natural gas. Judd said the process would likely be the largest consumer of natural gas in the entire province.
No location has been selected yet but Beatty said there are some suitable locations for the project.
