Renewable Energy Program Honoured by Environmental Commissioner

Staff of the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) are being celebrated today in a ceremony held at Queen’s Park by Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. This is to recognize their Alternative Power project at Summer Beaver Airport, Canada’s first remote airport powered entirely by renewable energy. Commissioner Miller is presenting his 2009/10 ECO Recognition Award to MTO staff for their exemplary work in developing and implementing the program.

“This shows there are real opportunities for generating electricity from renewable energy sources in remote communities in Ontario’s far north,” Miller said. “There are multiple benefits – improving local air quality, avoiding soil contamination, eliminating emissions from transporting diesel fuel. Let’s see this expanded to all of Ontario’s remote airports.”

Wind and solar energy has replaced diesel at Summer Beaver Airport in Nibinamik First Nation, making it the first airport in Canada to be entirely powered by renewable energy. This is one of 29 remote airports operated by MTO in Ontario’s far north in First Nations communities that do not have all-weather road connections to the rest of Ontario. Nibinamik, a community of approximately 380 persons, is located 494 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. The airport is not connected to the small diesel-powered community grid and, until recently, relied on two 24 kilowatt diesel generators to produce power to operate the airport.

“The MTO team, who are not energy specialists and whose job is to keep transportation links open, couldn’t have done a better job,” enthused Miller. “They took a proven technology and applied it in an ecologically sound manner. They installed a reclaimed solar array.  During winter months when light levels and solar generation are low, the solar energy will be backed up with wind power, not diesel. Kudos to MTO and the Nibinamik First Nation for really thinking this one through and making it happen.”

- 30 -

For further information, contact:

Hayley Easto, Communications and Outreach Coordinator
Office of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
Tel:  416-325-3371  / 416-819-1673
Toll-free public inquiry line: 1-800-701-6454
E-mail: media@eco.on.ca

Aussi disponible en français