Hydro board accepts wind farm proposal

Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008

The wind farm development project in the St. Joseph area is one step closer to becoming a reality after the Manitoba Hydro Board accepted the proposal from St. Joseph Wind Farm Inc., owned by Babcock & Brown in partnership with BowArk Energy Ltd.The plan, which received opposition from a number of local property owners, will see the biggest wind farm in Canada built across 44,000 acres from Altona to Letellier and from the border to north of Hwy. 14.

More than 250 landowners are involved in the 300 MW project which BowArk Energy Ltd. says will provide electricity for more than 100,000 households.The project began in 2005, and rumours of Manitoba Hydro and BowArk being unable to reach a deal were being discussed after the project slipped eight months behind.But BowArk President Brad Sparkes expects the rest to fall into place quickly.“Now it should be very easy to move forward,” he said. “We’re still on schedule to (be operational) by December 2010.”The Power Purchase Agreement with Manitoba Hydro has yet to be finalized as does some engineering planning, and the construction and testing.The company must also finish their environmental impact assessments as well.Once the company has selected the machinery they will be using, a final open house will be held.That will show the definite locations and specs of the wind turbines.

“The final open house will be held in December or early January,” he said.Although the company remains committed to the project, Sparkes admits there has been some surprises, namely the quality of the soil. “Out there it’s more of a silt,” he said explaining that means a lot more concrete than originally anticipated.But even though the provincial government made the announcement on Monday amidst plenty of fanfare, Sparkes is not ready to pop the cork on the champagne just yet.“There’s no celebrating until we finalize,” he said. “Then we can move into construction.”Sparkes says construction such as road work and foundations will begin in 2009 with some turbines being built late 2009 and early 2010. They expect to be fully operational in Dec. 2010.

Provincial reaction

While it’s business as usual for BowArk, Premier Gary Doer used the occasion to trumpet their goal of developing 1,000 megawatts of wind power.“This new wind farm underlines Manitoba’s position as a leader in clean energy and will bring economic and environmental benefits to the local municipalities,” he said.

Source: Red River Valley Echo