By IAN ROSS
The turbine blades of Northern Ontario’s first wind farm are expected to begin turning this fall.
The Prince Wind Farm on the shores of Lake Superior figures to be a beehive of activity this summer. Brookfield Power Corporation will be making a herculean effort to get both phases of their energy development up and operating by year’s end.
When complete, the first (66 towers) and second phases (60 towers) will together feed 189 megawatts (MW) of power into Ontario’s electricity grid.
The Prince Wind Farm is one of a slew of green energy and green-related projects under way in the Sault Ste. Marie area.
The development will be powered with General Electric 1.5-MW wind turbine generators.
“The (access) roads are almost complete and the foundations for all 66 (first phase) turbines are complete,” says Jim Deluzio, general manager of wind operations for Brookfield Assets (formerly Brascan). A 34.5-kilovolt electrical collection system was installed in mid-March.
Towers and turbines will begin showing up on site during the last week in May to be erected over the summer.
“For a few months, it’s going to be a busy place.”
Deluzio says Brookfield hopes to have both phases commissioned and operating by year’s end.
After a September ground breaking, the company began road construction in January.
“We’re going to get the whole thing done by the end of the year. It’s going to be a major effort but we’re going to take our best shot.”
An 11-kilometre, 230-kilovolt transmission line is almost complete with a new substation and two switching stations to be built about 10 kilometres north of the city.
The Toronto-based producer and distributor, which is also building a 49.5-MW wind farm near Collingwood, is also finishing up a two-year power transmission line upgrade between the Sault and Wawa.
There is talk of a third wind farm phase being considered.
“It’s hard to say at this time if it would be viable, but we’re certainly actively investigating it,” says Deluzio.
General Electric is the company’s main turbine supplier. It will also be purchasing the towers.
Because of project scheduling, they will not be ordering from Algoma Steel’s new SIAG partnership.
“Algoma would certainly be in the running if their facility were up and running in time.”
In February, the Sault steelmaker announced its intention to team up with German wind tower manufacturer, Schaaf Industrie AG, to build wind towers for the North American market. The value-added steel plate venture will employ 140 people once the $35-million fabricating plant is in full production by the fall of 2007.
The SIAG Great Lakes Partnership production facility will build about 180 towers a year to be shipped to wind farm sites across North America.
Algoma is also assessing the feasibility of building its own wind farm. The company has erected two 80-meteorological towers in the Sault and Wawa to begin a 12-month wind testing study.
Sault College has hopped on Brookfield’s and Algoma’s bandwagon by agreeing to provide their future technical and industrial workforce.
The college is introducing a new electrical technicians program specializing in power generation starting in the fall of 2008. Graduates will be suited to construct, maintain and operate power-generating facilities, including wind power farms.
College president Tim Meyer says the program was created in partnership with Brookfield Assets and designed with the employer’s needs in mind. The campus wants to be branded as a leader in education and training around alternative energy sources.
The unnamed 20-seat program will incorporate aspects of civil engineering, welding and further study in composite technology, machining and electrical work. Federal and provincial agencies provided $1.2 million for the development of a laboratory and a working turbine.
Sault College hopes to eventually churn out graduates for the local wind farm as well as the international marketplace.
“Wind energy is becoming quite vital as an alternative energy source across the globe,” says Meyer. “The Europeans may be more advanced than we are in deploying this technology, but there is a large order for wind generation in Ontario and Quebec.”
They are partnering with the SIAG development to provide electrical, industrial painting and millwright apprentices in preparation for supplying future employees.
On the biotechnology front, a private and public sector consortium is working on a bio-refinery project to convert forest biomass (wood waste) into green fuel.
Dr. David Deyoe, a Ministry of Natural Resources biotechnology advisor, is working with the Ottawa-based Advanced Refinery Inc. to build a portable pilot plant at a logging site north of the city.
Deyoe says the technology is nearing the end of its construction in Ottawa and plans call for the unit to be shipped to the Sault in the spring for “shake down and pre-operational testing.”
“Afterwards, once we’re convinced it is operating properly with the design, it will be placed on the site north of the Sault.”
Also, EnQuest Power Corp, a Fonthill, Ont. company, is using the city’s landfill site for a pilot project this summer to turn garbage into fuel using what’s called a steam reformation unit.
They were still awaiting a Certificate of Approval from the Ministry of Environment to begin operations at Northern Ontario Business deadline.
