Plans are in the works to establish a Smart Energy Centre of Excellence in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre received $338,000 from the Northern Ontario Heritage Corp. (NOHFC) to establish the centre, which would leverage the current energy and natural resource assets in Sault Ste. Marie to foster the development of new industries.
The project will develop advanced energy generation and energy management projects with community benefit and commercial potential; complete an energy-mapping exercise to build an information base for future project development; and do global outreach to increase knowledge of unique attributes in the Sault Ste. Marie region to attract companies and projects.
The announcement was made during a 25th anniversary celebration of the NOHFC by David Orazietti, Sault MPP and natural resources minister, and Michael Gravelle, northern development and mines minister.
"Today we are celebrating 25 years of the NOHFC, a fund created by a Liberal government and increased to $100 million by our government to support job creation in Northern Ontario," Orazietti said in a release.
“The investment in the Smart Energy Centre of Excellence continues to reinforce this commitment and will undertake a number of activities that will result in job creation and further growth of the energy sector in Sault Ste. Marie.”
The NOHFC is celebrating its 25th anniversary under the theme, The NOHFC @ 25: Proud past, Strong future. Since 2003, the province has approved more than $71 million toward more than 608 NOHFC projects in Sault Ste. Marie. These investments have resulted in 2,275 jobs and allowed for over $253 million in infrastructure and business projects to be completed.
