POWER December 2015 - 24
TOP PLANTS
Blackspring Ridge Wind Project,
Carmangay, Alberta
Owners/operators: Enbridge and EDF EN Canada
Courtesy: Enbridge
Think Alberta is all about oil and gas? While fossil fuels remain a major component
of the province's economy, wind is coming on strong as the federal and provincial
governments look to reduce the area's substantial carbon emissions. Alberta took a
big step toward that goal with commissioning of the largest wind farm in Western
Canada.
Thomas W. Overton, JD
W
ith its vast resources of oil, gas,
coal, and tar sands-some of the
largest in the world-the province
of Alberta has long been known as Canada's
fuel tank. Coal- and gas-fired power has supplied
the large majority of the province's
electricity needs for more than a century. (For
one example, see the story on the Shepard
Energy Centre, another POWER 2015 Top
Plant, in the September 2015 issue.)
But times are changing, and the provincial
and national governments are making a drive
to support renewable generation in Alberta.
Fortunately, Alberta has another substantial
energy resource: wind. Not so fortunately, its
deregulated electricity market makes financing
projects with uncertain revenue-like
24
wind farms-challenging.
Still, Alberta has more than 1,400 MW of
operating wind capacity, comprising 37 projects
and just under 1,000 total turbines as of
September 2015, according to the Canadian
Wind Energy Association (CanWEA). Most
of these projects came online with the help of
federal production incentives.
Those totals rank Alberta third in the
nation for installed wind capacity, but the
numbers took a big jump in May 2014
when the largest wind farm in Western
Canada, and one of the largest in the country,
began operations: The Blackspring
Ridge Wind Project about 31 miles north
of Lethbridge and 62 miles north of the
U.S. border.
www.powermag.com
Site Challenges
Development of Blackspring Ridge began in
the mid-2000s under Calgary-based Greengate
Power. A 100-square-mile project site
was selected, and federal renewable energy
credits were sold to California utility Pacific
Gas & Electric under a 20-year agreement,
with the electricity sold into the Alberta
Power Pool under fixed contracts. The Alberta-based
Climate Change and Emissions
Management Corp. committed C$10 million
in support of the project.
Mortenson Construction was tapped as the
engineering, procurement, and construction
contractor early on in the project. Mortenson's
substantial experience with wind
farms-it's built well over 100 of them-
POWER | December 2015
http://www.powermag.com
POWER December 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER December 2015
Contents
POWER December 2015 - Cover1
POWER December 2015 - Cover2
POWER December 2015 - Contents
POWER December 2015 - 2
POWER December 2015 - 3
POWER December 2015 - 4
POWER December 2015 - 5
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POWER December 2015 - Cover3
POWER December 2015 - Cover4
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