Métis Crossing solar project to benefit cultural site and surrounding communities – Lakeland Today
November 01, 2023
“A gift from the sun,” at Métis Crossing is expected to bring environmental change.
LAKELAND – Construction of the Métis Crossing Solar Project, recently renamed Salay Prayzaan, which began in 2022, is expected to wrap up this fall.
Salay Prayzaan, which is Michif for “a gift from the sun,” is a 4.86-megawatt community generation solar plant consisting of 12,840 panels being built near the Métis cultural site south of Smoky Lake. The project has been constructed by the Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA), which, following the recent election for the first-ever Otipemisiwak Métis Government in Alberta, will soon be re-branded.
According to Andres Filella, Director of Climate Environment and Climate Change for the MNA, the plant will generate enough electricity to power 1,200 homes and offset energy generated by other sources, which in turn will result in the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of approximately 4,700 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the first year of operation.
