Fort Folly First Nation (FFFN) is the first in New Brunswick, Canada to offset electricity costs for its band office through solar energy.
IFE Canada, a renewable energy company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, sponsored the installation of solar panels on the roof. The panels will produce approximately 7,000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year.
“We want the energy we use to be green and renewable,” said Rebecca Knockwood, Fort Folly’s chief. The community is a member of the Mi’Kmaw Conservation Group of the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’Kmaq.
IFE Canada and FFFN contracted Fundy Solar to install 24 260-watt solar panels in January 2018. The installation used local design and labour.
The project uses net metering – feeding energy into a two-way meter that allows the building to return excess energy back to the power grid. The solar panels on the band office roof will reduce electricity bills.
“It’s wonderful to work with Chief Knockwood and Fort Folly on their efforts to fight climate change,” said Keith Towse, chief executive officer, IFE Canada. “We are very pleased to be working with First Nations on renewable energy projects across the province.”
IFE Project Management Canada Inc. – known as IFE Canada – is a renewable energy company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a wholly owned subsidiary of IFE Eriksen AG based in Oldenburg, Germany. We work with partners and communities to expand and modernize the production of clean green energy.