POWER December 2015 - 25

TOP PLANTS
1. Blowout. Construction of the Blackspring Ridge project was interrupted by the 2013-
2014 Polar Vortex, which sent temperature plunging and high winds and snow blowing across
the site. Courtesy: Terracana Foundation Solutions
POWER POINTS
Winning Attributes
Largest wind farm in Western
Canada
Project completed ahead of
schedule in a rapid 11 months,
despite severe winter weather
Successfully overcame
challenges with a sensitive native
prairie location and existing oil
and gas infrastructure
would play a key role in bringing the project
to completion.
The site had some advantages, one of
which was that it was largely contiguous,
about 10 miles across, unlike typical wind
farms that are often scattered across separate
plots of land for dozens of miles. That would
ease one significant element of the construction
process, which was the need to move and
disassemble the cranes when transiting from
one turbine location to the next.
But there were also challenges. Part of the
48,000-acre site contains protected native
prairie areas, and construction activities had
to minimize any impact on these locations.
Mortenson brought in consulting firm Stantec
to perform an environmental assessment
of the site and develop a resource management
plan to protect the native grasslands.
Another hurdle was coexisting with
the substantial oil and gas development in
the area. In plotting the turbine locations,
Mortenson had to navigate over, under,
and around a significant number of gathering
pipelines. The collector lines for the
towers-nearly 100 miles worth-had to be
laid across this maze of pipelines without
disrupting it.
In April 2013, with construction set to
begin, Greengate Power sold Blackspring
Ridge to Enbridge and EDF subsidiary EDF
EN Canada for C$600 million, with each
company owning a 50% share. Both companies
came to the project with substantial wind
portfolios, and Blackspring Ridge would be
their fourth jointly owned wind farm, joining
the 80-MW Saint-Robert-Bellarmin, the 150MW
Massif du Sud, and the 300-MW LacAlfred
projects, all in Quebec.
Part of the process of meeting the construction
challenges was engaging the local
December 2015 | POWER
community and building support from residents
of the village of Carmangay. Among
other efforts, Enbridge and EDF created the
Blackspring Ridge Community Fund, which
supports a variety of public and nonprofit organizations
in the area.
The 300-MW project, comprising 166
Vestas V100 1.8-MW turbines, began construction
in May 2013. At the time, it was
the largest order Vestas had received in Canada.
Altalink would supply the interconnection
and HD Supply most of the electrical
equipment.
Facing the Polar Vortex
Despite an aggressive schedule, construction
went smoothly for most of the spring, summer,
and fall. But when the Canadian winter
blew in, things would change.
The winter of 2013-2014 was one of the
most severe North American winters on record,
with areas across central Canada and
the U.S. seeing unusually cold temperatures
and snowfall. Though the worst of the Polar
Vortex blizzards hit further east, Alberta still
took a wallop. Temperatures at the construction
site dipped to -31F. Frigid weather and
high winds forced construction to halt several
times (Figure 1).
In spite of the weather delays, construction
was completed in a brisk 11 months-
several months ahead of schedule-with
Enbridge and EDF EN Canada declaring the
project commercially operational on May
12, 2014. Mortenson officials would credit
careful preparation and planning for the successful
completion despite the environmental
challenges.
Benoit Rigal, vice president, engineering
and construction for EDF EN Canada, said,
" Bringing all 300 megawatts of the Blackwww.powermag.com
spring
Ridge project to completion safely and
ahead of schedule is a result of outstanding efforts
by Mortenson, Vestas, Altalink, and our
team who worked hand in hand to overcome
many challenges, including an aggressive delivery
schedule. The entire team performed
with professional diligence, always putting
safety first while maintaining respect for the
environment and our stakeholders. "
About 350 people worked on the project,
and 20 permanent maintenance and operations
jobs were created.
" As Enbridge's third Alberta-based wind
facility to come online, Blackspring Ridge
is a welcome addition to our growing
portfolio of renewable energy assets, " Enbridge's
vice president of green power and
transmission, Don Thompson, said. " Completing
a project of this magnitude requires
a great deal of coordination and teamwork.
Not only is this the largest wind farm in
western Canada, it is one of the largest in
Canada. Blackspring Ridge was built ahead
of schedule thanks to the outstanding efforts
of the entire team. "
In addition to its status as a POWER Top
Plant, Blackspring Ridge has received other
honors. In October 2015, it was given CanWEA's
2015 Wind Energy Project Award,
which recognizes individuals, organizations,
and projects that have made significant contributions
to advance the Canadian wind energy
industry. As a sign of the support Enbridge
and EDF EN Canada built in the area, Blackspring
Ridge was nominated for the award by
Kym Nichols, the mayor of Carmangay.
EDF EN Canada has more plans for the
Blackspring Ridge project. It's currently
looking at developing a 60-MW solar park
nearby. At up to 170,000 panels, it would-
as with Blackspring Ridge-be the largest
renewable energy plant of its type in Western
Canada. Construction is tentatively planned
for 2019. ■
-Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER
associate editor.
25
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POWER December 2015

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