Of the roughly 95 projects the bank has funded to date, one-quarter have Indigenous participation, CEO Ehren Cory says.Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail
The Canada Infrastructure Bank is investing $108.3-million to support the construction of a new wind farm in Quebec’s Gaspésie-Îles-de-la Madeleine region, its latest move to back projects involving Indigenous communities ahead of an explosion of spending on power generation and transmission lines in the years to come.
The federal government’s $35-billion financing arm, established in 2017 to push a catching up on years of underfunding in infrastructure, said Tuesday it will lend $92.5-million for the construction of a 102.2-megawatt wind farm in the region and another $15.8-million to help Mi’kmaq communities acquire an ownership stake in the project. The balance of the funding for the wind farm will come from loans and credit provided by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Desjardins and National Bank of Canada.
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The project, expected to generate enough electricity to power 20,000 homes, will be jointly owned by producer Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. INE-T and the Mi’gmawei Mawiomi Business Corp., the economic development arm of the Gesgapegiag, Gespeg and Listuguj Mi’gmaq communities, the Infrastructure Bank said. Hydro-Québec will purchase the power generated through a 30-year agreement.
The Infrastructure Bank has been concentrating of late on developing projects in Indigenous communities and providing loans to allow First Nations, Métis and Inuit to participate in major developments. The bank has provided more than $1-billion in funding to this end and is planning for more.
Of the roughly 95 projects the bank has funded to date, one-quarter have Indigenous participation, chief executive officer Ehren Cory said in May. Equity ownership is now seen as a necessity to get major infrastructure such as power transmission lines, clean energy projects, ports and roads built, he said.
Ottawa and the provinces are plotting a major expansion of the country’s energy infrastructure, in part to better secure its sovereignty as the global geopolitical situation evolves. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is pitching a massive offshore wind system he calls “Wind West,” whose excess power could supply other provinces.
Hydro-Québec alone will spend $200-billion between now and 2035 in a bid to modernize its grid and reduce the province’s reliance on fossil fuels. That includes new development announced last December on the Churchill River with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador.