Selkirk to get new solar glass production facility the first of its kind in North America

Selkirk will soon be home to North America's first solar glass production factory. Canadian Premium Sand Inc. (CPS) announced that Selkirk will be the new home of the facility.

CPS estimates that once the facility is operational, it will create roughly 300 employment in the area, with the intention of primarily producing solar panels in North America.

"Every piece of (glass) comes from China or some other Asia-Pacific country, and is largely owned by Chinese glass manufacturers," CPS President and CEO Glenn Leroux said.

Selkirk was chosen by CPS because it is close to its silica sand quarry, which is around 160 kilometers north of Selkirk.

According to Leroux, the corporation considered a number of locations for the factory but ultimately decided that Manitoba and Selkirk were the best fit.

“Manitoba is very underrated for its benefits to a manufacturing facility. We are going to enjoy very low-priced hydro … but what’s really cool about Manitoba is that, if it’s not 100 percent renewable, Manitoba Hydro is heading in that direction. That’s not common.”

He also mentioned that there is a natural gas source in the vicinity, which the city of Selkirk desired.

“We wanted a community that would welcome an industry like this. A very large, yet sustainable industry and that fits right into Selkirk’s vision of how they want their community to develop.”

The city of Selkirk's director of sustainable economic development, Tim Feduniw, expressed his delight at the prospect of hosting this new enterprise.

“The more and more we work with (CPS), the more and more it becomes apparent that there’s an alignment of their values and where they want to go with those of our community,” said Feduniw.

“When you look at solar and solar glass and the whole world trend, it gives us an opportunity at Selkirk to become a real meaningful player in diversifying Canada’s energy future.”

This will be the largest industrial investment in Selkirk in the last 100 years, according to Feduniw.

He emphasizes that this initiative exemplifies Selkirk's core values of character, culture, and alignment.

If the company is able to get enough funding for the project, Leroux believes shovels will be in the ground to begin construction at the end of 2022, and the facility will be fully operational 24 months after.

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