French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to sell electricity generated at its 157MW Mino Giizis solar PV project in Canada to the Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower).
The deal will see the utility acquire 100% of the electricity generated at the project, which will be the province’s largest solar project by capacity, and at which Neoen expects to begin commercial operations in 2028. Neoen is the project developer, and half of the facility is owned through an equity partnership with the Anishinabek Power Alliance (APA), a partnership of four First Nations, all of whom were involved in the 1874 Treaty 4 agreement, which covers compensation for the trading of the First Nations’ lands.
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These First Nations are the Zagime Anishinabek Nation, Kinistin Saulteaux First Nation, Cote First Nation, and The Key First Nation, with political participation from the Yorkton Tribal Council, and the name of the project—Mino Giizis—is taken from a phrase meaning “good sun” in the Ojibwe language.
Neoen highlighted collaboration with First Nations as a key part of the project’s development, as the developer expects to hire up to 350 local construction workers to complete work on the project, and the facility initially received a tender from a joint agreement between SaskPower and the First Nations Power Authority (FNPA); FNPA president and CEO Guy Lonechild noted that Neoen was the authority’s “preferred proponent” to develop a solar project in the province.
“Zagime Anishinabek is pursuing the will of our people through this project,” said Lynn Acoose, chief of the Zagime Anishinabek Nation. “Developing renewable energy through projects such as Mino Giizis Solar will benefit future generations and the land we live in.”
The news follows the advancement of work at a number of Neoen projects around the world, including the 100MW Hultsfred project in Sweden and the 440MW Culcairn project in Australia.
Canada-headquartered investment manager Brookfield acquired a majority stake in Neoen, in a deal that was completed in December 2024. A share purchase agreement signed in June of that year saw Brookfield take a 53.12% majority stake in Neoen at €39.85 (US$42.6) per share, from investors that included Impala and Fonds Stratégique de Participations.
The deal gave the IPP a €6.1 billion valuation. One of the conditions of the Brookfield acquisition was that Neoen divest its assets in Victoria, Australia, which it sold for AU$950 million (US$610 million at that time) in August 2025 to HMC Capital. The divestment was required to comply with a request from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
