NEWS FILE PHOTO A wind turbine is seen in this undated file photo.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Capital Power is ready to expand its recently completed Whitla Wind facility in 2021, the utility announced on Thursday just as the initial major portion of the wind farm went into service.
The 56-turbine array that was erected south of Bow Island this year began commercial operation on Dec. 1. It has 201 megawatts of renewable power capacity, a figure that will rise by 50 per cent when a planned second phase is completed in about two years time.
The company’s proposal has always been to eventually build a 300-megawatt project, officials told the News, and good execution and strength of the Alberta market will lend to a new phase.
“It’s been a very enjoyable project to do because the community has been engaged in it, the town, the county, the village,” said Jerry Bellikka, Capital Power’s director of government relations, adding the two-year time frame relates more to lag time in ordering equipment.
“We’ve set up of the infrastructure for the first project, and that will service the second part as well.”
The announcement came as the Edmonton-based power producer held its investors day meetings in Toronto. Capital Power CEO Brian Vaasjo outlined a “strategic investment plan” for the next several years to increase production and reduce emissions.
They include a $165-million addition to Whitla Wind, which would see about 25 more turbines added to the collector network. They would add 97 megawatts of maximum output at the facility, located about 60 kilometres southwest of Medicine Hat.
Bellikka said some new roads will be required and only relatively minor improvements to an existing AltaLink substation that links Whitla 1 to the Alberta grid.
The entire facility, spread over 50,000 acres of privately owned land east of the Forty Mile Reservoir, would be eventually serviced from an existing shop and an operating staff of eight to 10 employees.
Contractors began land grading and road building at the site in late 2018 ahead of major construction this year. Testing began in October, and last week the output reached 195 megawatts in strong weather.
Whitla 2 is the second major wind power announcement for southeast Alberta this week, and third this fall.
Suncor announced it would construct the first phase of its Forty Mile Wind project near the Capital site by the end of 2021.
That $300-million construction project would see 45 turbines erected on privately owned land leased to Suncor Forty Mile.
As well, Berkshire Hathaway Energy Canada says it and partner RES will build the Rattlesnake Ridge wind facility surrounding the village of Whitla.
Specific to Whitla 1, the company expects unadjusted earnings from operations to be $27 million per year initially, said Vaasjo. The facility won a long-term supply contract with the Alberta Electrical System Operator in late 2017. Capital Power is “actively” seeking a private sector buyer for the power of the new production, said Vaasjo. Credits from both facilities earned under the province’s new TIER emissions reductions levy on heavy industry will be used to offset costs in other facilities.
The company also announced it will fully convert all three units at its Gennesee complex to be able to use either coal or natural gas in what are described as dual-fuel boilers. It previously announced the switch would proceed at two coal plants that it assumed 100 per cent interest in this summer.
That facility will also see a partnership including Capital Power build a $25-million facility to produce carbon nanotubes, which sequester emissions and can be used in building materials.
