Overview

The project is proposed to deliver 494 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System, comprising 83 total towers.

The project sits on roughly 17,500 acres of privately owned land under long-term option agreement, with several private landowners signed up with the project. Wildlife surveys were conducted from the spring to fall of 2019 and are now complete. A summary report with all of the results has been submitted to Government wildlife biologists at Alberta Environment and Parks.

Visual simulations, noise modeling, and a shadow flicker assessment for the preliminary project layout have now all been completed, and the preliminary results were presented to the public at the November 2019 Open House and final results were provided at the October online information session. They can also be found in the downloads section.

Wind Turbines: The turbine models selected for permitting are the Siemens Gamesa 6.0-170 and 5.0-145 with a nominal capacity of 6.6MW and 5.2MW, respectively. The 6.0-170 turbine has a hub height of 110.5 meters and a rotor diameter of 170 meters, and the 5.0-145 turbine has a hub height of 95.5 meters and a rotor diameter of 145 meters. The turbine models have a reduced noise emission profile accompanied with a slightly lower hub height and a slightly larger rotor diameter but maintains the same overall height as the previously proposed model.

Collector System: The project will utilize a medium voltage collector system consisting of above ground and underground cables that transmit the electricity from the turbines to the project substation.

Access Roads: A road use agreement will be negotiated with Vulcan County to upgrade and utilize existing roads where necessary. Terms of the agreement require that the roads remain in the same, or improved, condition after the completion of the project. Outside of County roads, about 56 kilometers of new roads are also expected to be built on the project site for turbine access.

Other Infrastructure: The project will include a substation to step the voltage up from the collector system voltage to the transmission level voltage. The project will also require an Operations and Maintenance building for the local maintenance staff, which will be located close to the substation.

Interconnection: The project intends to construct a 12-15 kilometers high-voltage transmission line to connect the project substation to the Alberta grid. The project substation is planned to connect to the 356S Milo substation, located north of Lomond in the grazing leases.

Meteorological Tower: Two temporary towers have been erected for the development of the project to measure wind speed and direction. After construction, the two towers will be removed and up to four permanent met towers will be installed to collect long term forecasting data, in compliance with the Alberta Electric System Operator system regulations.