Work on the 8.5-megawatt solar park at the Thunder Bay International Airport is right on track with construction to wrap up in July, says the airport authority’s chief executive officer.
Airport Authority chief executive officer Scott McFadden provided an update to the project Tuesday. The construction of the site, adjacent to a pair of runways on the southwest side of the airport property, parallel to Highway 61, started earlier this month.
McFadden said they were at the stage of screwing the panels down into the ground and bolting down the structure to hold the solar panels. He guessed that construction was about a third completed and expected to complete construction of the $25-million project in July.
"Everything seems to be progressing as planned," McFadden said. "Apart from bolting the panels into place, there’s all the electrical connections and there are the inverters that conditions the power to go into the grid. The rain has made things a little mucky today but other than that everything is going well."
McFadden said the project, being spearheaded by Toronto-based SkyPower, has drawn national attention, as the Thunder Bay International Airport will be the first of its kind in Canada when the project is completed this summer.
About 100 jobs are expected to be created during construction.
