Six Nations has inked a deal with Korean corporate giant Samsung to develop a $40-million solar power farm on reserve lands.
The Six Nations project with Samsung C&T Corporation -- part of the $7-billion renewable energy initiative Ontario signed with Samsung and Korea Electric Power Corp. earlier this week -- will cover 40.5 hectares and generate 10 megawatts.
That's enough to power 2,100 homes.
"Including construction, operations and maintenance, we would employ about 100 people," Cheolwoo Lee, Samsung's senior executive vice-president, said yesterday.
The reserve would create a utility company to distribute the solar-generated electricity to Six Nations customers and sell excess capacity to the province's electricity grid, said Chief Bill Montour of the elected band council.
Six Nations will take an active role in developing, running and maintaining the solar farm instead of just leasing land and receiving royalty payments, he said.
Six Nations and Samsung signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday.
"It was very clear with Samsung that we were not willing to accept 1 or 2 per cent royalty such as we've been offered many times before," Montour said.
"We want to be part of any development on Six Nations lands ... Our people are looking for jobs to feed their families and educate their children."
He wants natives involved in all aspects of the project, including manufacturing the solar panels.
"We're looking at long-term jobs here."
Two plots of land near the reserve's southern border are being considered for the solar farm.
The preferred site is a plot on Fifth Line that is primarily scrubland, the chief said. The other is the old Oneida Business Park at the southern end of Fourth Line.
When Samsung first began exploring Ontario as a potential mega-site for green energy manufacturing and generation, it quickly focused on negotiating with natives, Lee said.
"We spent quite some time building a relationship" with Six Nations.
"Also, the provincial government emphasized the benefits of discussing plans well in advance with local First Nations communities."
Yesterday's memorandum of understanding includes a clause for "discussion of possible equity participation by Six Nations in the wind farm development of the project."
That relates to future wind power development down Lake Erie's north shore from Port Maitland to Nanticoke, on lands where Six Nations natives "have treaty rights," Montour said.
In total, the Samsung-Korea Electric consortium will invest up to $7 billion in Ontario to set up production facilities to build green energy technology with large-scale wind and solar farms.
The deal will give the Koreans priority access to the province's power grid and allow them to sell their green energy at rates above market value.
The first series of giant wind turbine farms will go in along Lake Erie's north shore and generate up to 2,000 megawatts. The province says the deal will create up to 16,000 jobs.