Blind River, ON – On July 17th North Shore Power Group Inc. and Menova Energy Inc. formally launched Ontario’s first Municipal Micro-FIT Solar programme at an Open House at the Blind River Marine Park today. This innovative programme will provide solar PV installations at residential, municipal, institutional and business properties in Blind River (funded through a $49.5 million municipal debenture). North Shore Power Group will own the PV systems while revenues generated from selling power under the Ontario Power Authority Micro-FIT program will be shared with host property owners.

Menova Energy has been selected as the EPC Contractor for the programme and, in conjunction with this, has announced plans to build a staging facility in the municipality to manufacture and assemble the equipment. Canadian Geo & Solar and Superior Energy of Sault Saint Marie will provide installation and consulting services for the project.

Robert Gallagher, Mayor of the Town of Blind River, stated “We’ve been pursuing energy initiatives for some time now with over 10 years of investment in the industrial park and investigation of cleantech opportunities that would properly fit our community. We are ecstatic with this first concrete step toward implementation and pleased to have been able to partner with the high-quality firms that have come together to deliver this project with us. It’s an important economic diversification boost for a small rural community, and we’ve been fortunate to have had the support of the Ontario Power Authority, Hydro One Networks, and the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure as well as the assistance of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation in sorting out the logistics and infrastructure investment required to support this important initiative.”

Graeme Lowry, CEO of North Shore Power Group indicates that “The response from residents has been very positive with over 400 applications received to participate in the programme. Municipal roof-top systems will proceed to construction shortly, and assessments for residential and business sites will be scheduled to begin before the end of July.  We will continue receiving applications through to the end of 2011.”

Dave Gerwing, CEO of Menova Energy, stated “We’ve been developing and testing our products right here in Ontario for the past 10 years; and, we’re thrilled to have this partnership with Blind River. We commend Graeme Lowry and Stoney Burton of the North Shore Power Group as well as the Council of the Town of Blind River for their foresight and persistence in developing this innovative programme – as far as we know, it is the first of its kind in Ontario. We’re going to build our staging facility in Blind River because it will extend the environmental benefits of the solar installations to include year-round regional economic benefits. We’re planning to hire aggressively so that we can start with the construction of the staging facility and commence the solar installations immediately.”

Residents and/or businesses interested in obtaining a PV installation can download the application form at http://www.blindriver.com/site/welcome/index.php?pid=289.