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Power plans

Solar farms might be spotted on highways around Thunder Bay in the future. Calgary-based GTE Solar is looking to put up solar farms in Thunder Bay and Shuniah to generate 60 megawatts.
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Ian Rogers speaks with people at a meeting Tuesday evening. (Jamie Smith)

Solar farms might be spotted on highways around Thunder Bay in the future.

Calgary-based GTE Solar is looking to put up solar farms in Thunder Bay and Shuniah to generate 60 megawatts. The company held its first meeting on the proposed project in Shuniah Tuesday evening.

The project in question would be on 400 acres of land north of the new highway. It could see 40 MW of power. GTE president Ian Rogers said he’s hearing a lot of positive things about the project from residents while also addressing concerns.

“A lot of people have concerns about the sound of power and the impact as far as the visuals,” Rogers said.  “For the most part we’re in remote areas…actually the sound level of a solar farm is pretty marginal.”

GTE is waiting for contracts with the province but in the meantime, Rogers said they wanted to keep preparing for the Renewable Energy Approval, which is why they are in Thunder Bay to let people know about the projects.
Jim Carr’s house would be right next to the project. He came to the meeting with concerns ranging from environmental impacts to construction concerns. But after hearing the company out, he feels a little more comfortable with the project.

“They’ve addressed the sound issue quite nicely they said that’s not going to be as much of a concern,” Carr said. “They are being quite helpful.”

Carr said he’s in favour of renewable energy and even has solar panels installed at his home.

“But in terms of a big industrial type thing going  right next door it’s kind of a concern we wanted to know more about,” he said.

Ed Suokko also has property right next to the proposed project. He said while he has questions about how quickly the project seems to be moving along, he’s had his questions addressed.

“I’m almost thoroughly surrounded by this project.” Suokko said. “It’s progress there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The company will host a public meeting Wednesday from 5p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Valhalla Inn about it’s plans to build two 10 MW projects in Thunder Bay. One would be east of Highway 11/17 and west of Mapleward Road. The other would be Around Dawson and Paquette Roads. Each 10 MW proejct requires roughly 40,000 solar panels with each panel being around 1 metre by 2 metres.
 





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