The MRC Pontiac is looking into what would be involved in hosting a solar energy farm in the region, and at the Council of Mayors meeting on Aug. 21, the mayors approved for the MRC to sign a confidentiality agreement with Quebec-based renewable energy company Innergex to further explore this possibility.
In February of this year the MRC put out a call for submissions for solar energy projects and received several responses, including one from Innergex, a company based in Longueuil that develops and operates solar, wind and hydroelectricity projects.
MRC Pontiac economic development agent Rachel Soar-Flandé said the MRC is currently in the process of studying a partnership agreement with Innergex, further details of which will be discussed in a meeting at the end of September.
“It is to commence building a relationship with Innergex, because they have shown a lot of interest in the territory,” she said.
“There is a strong potential for solar energy within the MRC.”
According to data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, portions of the Pontiac have some of the greatest photovoltaic potential in all of Quebec.
THE EQUITY reached out to Innergex to find out more about their vision for the project and why they are interested in working with the MRC, but it declined an interview.
“We are in the very early stages of engaging with the MRC, so we do not have further information to share,” communications representative Guillaume Perron-Piché wrote in an email.
Soar-Flandé wouldn’t explain what kinds of information are kept private with a confidentiality agreement, but said some of it may be shared at the end of September when they have a clearer picture of what a possible agreement could look like.
She listed other benefits of having a solar farm in the region, including creating local employment and bringing awareness to the possibility of solar energy.
“It could also be beneficial for educational purposes,” she said.
“We are in the process of building a relationship with Innergex. It’s positive, and nice that a very large, multinational company is showing interest in our territory.”
The MRC cannot yet say where it would put a solar farm, but Warden Jane Toller said on Aug. 21 in conversation with THE EQUITY it doesn’t want to put it on agricultural land.
She said the MRC is looking at a model where, instead of just a solar farm, they can take solar panels and put them on community infrastructure like arenas and community centres, a move she believes might make it easier for such community buildings to cover their electricity bills.
