Worksport Ltd (Nasdaq: WKSP) (the "Company") subsidiary, Terravis Energy, foreseeing the future of the sustainable energy markets, has accepted an offer from the Indigenous Critical Infrastructure Fund (ICIF) to be its exclusive clean energy partner for sustainable energy infrastructure across all Indigenous lands.
After visiting Worksport's manufacturing facilities and learning more about the Company, Chief Keith Matthew, ICIF Chairman of the Board, had a first-hand opportunity to provide insights to leadership on historical obstacles, present expectations, and future aspirations of Indigenous peoples. Chief Matthew explained how Canada had embraced the global mandate: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIP), and, in turn, has adopted recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a framework for economic restoration for Indigenous peoples. To address the resultant considerable challenges for Indigenous peoples, Chief Matthew and several consequential Indigenous leaders launched the ICIF, whose mission, vision, and value is to encourage and enable economic reconciliation through Indigenous-led investments. With a minimum initial bank of $100 Million, the ICIF seeks to undertake investments in key areas in Canada, where the benefit will be realized for and in all Indigenous lands and territories.
"Our Board has been looking for ways to augment and enhance our relationships with Canadian infrastructure companies on projects where we anticipate growth and benefit for Indigenous peoples. We were very impressed with the clean energy innovations being realized by Worksport and Terravis Energy and are extremely excited for this partnership. It is a perfect way for our Fund to begin bringing immense benefit to Indigenous communities, initially around Cochrane, ON. We look forward to working with their teams and expand with them as we grow," states Chief Keith Matthew, ICIF Chairman of the Board.
Chief Matthew also holds an influential role on the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group (WIPG) and First Nations Energy, wherein he has learned of the needs and desires of his fellow Indigenous peoples, including full-scale implementation of reliable and clean energy infrastructure for local healthcare hubs, vertical farming, cryptocurrency mining farms, and other infrastructure projects.
"We welcome these opportunities to showcase our expertise and capabilities in providing the critical clean energy infrastructure with necessary scalability to power such meaningful hubs of collaboration for economic empowerment of Indigenous peoples," states Lorenzo H. Rossi, CEO of Terravis Energy.
Terravis MicrogridTM systems from Worksport subsidiary Terravis Energy will initially provide 50-60MW of power for the first project in Cochrane and will be scalable to support necessary increased power requirements. Company management estimates the Terravis MicrogridTM systems to be long-term, long-standing investments by local partners, project developers, and the ICIF, with each party working together to set standards in sustainable energy.
"We are keen to undertake these massive programs with Chief Matthew and Indigenous peoples. Our teams at Worksport and Terravis Energy have decades of expertise in renewable energy systems, hydrogen fuel cell technology, and high power energy storage systems. The gravity and potential of these particular types of projects will, without a doubt, position Canada and its Indigenous peoples as first beneficiaries of communities-wide, scalable, sustainable energy infrastructure and smart grid development, made possible by our powerhouse subsidiary Terravis Energy," states Steven Rossi, CEO of Worksport.
