Smart Energy Centre of Excellence coming to Sault Ste. Marie

NEWS RELEASE

SAULT STE. MARIE
INNOVATION CENTRE

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NOHFC announces funding for a Smart Energy Centre of Excellence in Sault

SSMIC and community organizations to take the lead

SAULT STE. MARIE - The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) and Northern Ontario Heritage Fund (NOHFC) today announced special funding for a Smart Energy Centre of Excellence in Sault Ste. Marie.

The announcement was publicized during NOHFC’s 25th Anniversary Meet and Greet at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.

The Chair of the NOHFC, Minister of Northern Development and Mines (NMDM), the Honourable Michael Gravelle, the Minister of Natural Resources the Honourable David Orazietti, and the NOHFC Board were all present for the announcement.

Funding for a Smart Energy Centre of Excellence is part of the NOHFC’s Public Sector Emerging Technology program.

This project will establish a Smart Energy Centre of Excellence in Sault Ste. Marie that leverages the unique strengths in the region and builds on the Smart Energy Strategy completed by Parker Venture Management and community stakeholders.

”Sault Ste. Marie and region possesses unique strengths with its high volume of distributed renewable energy assets, energy businesses and community commitment to furthering the momentum we have experienced,” said Tom Vair, executive director, SSMIC. “We look forward to collaborating with local and global organizations to furthering the smart energy sector and thank NOHFC for their support of this exciting initiative.”

Key activities that will be undertaken in this project include:

• The development of advanced energy generation and energy management projects with community benefit
• The development of advanced energy technology solutions with commercial potential
• The development of regional investment vehicles which enable local participation and wealth creation
• Hosting an international Smart Energy Conference in Sault Ste. Marie targeted to communities under 150,000 in population size
• Global outreach to increase knowledge of unique attributes in the Sault Ste. Marie region to attract companies and projects

The Smart Energy Centre of Excellence is a project built with local, regional and international collaborators, and will position Sault Ste. Marie and region to take advantage of opportunities in the emerging smart energy sector.

Project partners include numerous local private sector energy companies, SSMIC, Sault College, Sault Ste. Marie Public Utilities Commission (PUC), City of Sault Ste. Marie, and Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (SSMEDC).

This project enables the community and region to diversify the economy and continue its momentum in the smart energy space.

A process began with the Destiny SSM Energy Committee to form an Alternative Energy Task Team which created a strategic framework as a foundation for the alternative energy strategy.

The goal of the Task Team was to look at the Alternative Energy sector and begin to map out a process to think more strategically and align community activities in order to grow this promising sector.

The $338,000.00 in NOHFC funding will assist in initial strategic planning to achieve the following High Level Goals in the coming years:

• Generate new jobs from energy-related projects and companies
• Foster investment in energy-related projects, and company investment generated from local investors
• Increase awareness of the energy assets in Sault Ste. Marie
• Build capacity in Sault Ste. Marie with new energy company startups; energy-related patent applications and student enrollment in energy-related post-secondary programs

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