With the grand opening of the Wintering Hills Wind Project near Dalum, and potentially another two wind farms underway, one by Suncor Energy and one by Joss Wind Power Inc., near Handhills/Delia area, the question may come to mind “why wind power in Central Alberta and why now?”
The answer is quite simple. In the last few decades, there has been a shift towards renewable energy sources to supplement conventional oil and natural gas resources said John Vermeer, chair of the Wind Turbine Technician Program at Lethbridge College. He said wind power helps make this shift a reality by harnessing the power of mother nature and these projects will be popping up in Central Alberta, because the province, as a whole, is surprisingly a good resource of wind.
“We want high winds with consistency, but not too high of winds like in Southern Alberta because the turbines only operate up to 90 km/h winds,” said Justin Thompson, vice president of project development for Joss Wind Power Inc.
The turbines only operate to a maximum speed for safety reasons.
Places like Wintering Hills and Handhills are pockets of consistent wind resource that are found throughout the province. These areas are highly desirable for the development of wind farms.
Joss Wind has been working on the development of their project, which will be south of Delia, for quite some time now. Right now they are going through the regulatory process, and are working with the Alberta Utilities Commission to make the project a reality.
The company was originally partnered with Nexen Inc., but Nexen decided to move out of power generation and refocus their business plan. Joss Wind has since completely taken the project.
Suncor is also looking at constructing another wind project in the Handhills area, which will be the seventh wind farm for the company, and are now in the public information gathering process. The next public meeting will be held in August of this year.
“There are many wind prospects for the province. They may not be developed for a number of years, but there is a good resource there. This is why we will see these projects popping up across the prairies in the future,” said Vermeer.
To learn more about wind energy visit the Canadian Wind Energy Association website at www.canwea.ca.