A Montreal-based renewable energy developer has eyes on establishing a wind energy project in the area, and the question will be whether SaskPower gives their proposal the official nod to move forward.
Representatives with the RES Group (Renewable Energy Systems) were at the community hall in Macrorie on Tuesday night, January 30 to speak with residents about their proposal; a 200 mega-watt (MW) wind turbine project to be located primarily within the rural municipalities of Coteau and Fertile Valley, while also touching the fringes of King George.聽 Roughly a dozen people showed up to the open house-style public meeting.
The project would see an estimated 48-58 turbines installed, each with a generation capacity of 3 to 4 MW.聽 The site would also include new access roads, an operations and maintenance building, an electrical substation, power performance meteorological towers, and a temporary laydown yard.
The RES Group has been involved in Canada鈥檚 renewable energy sector since 2003, with more than 750 MW of renewable energy installed or currently under construction in parts across the country. 聽The company鈥檚 annual production totals to 2.6 terawatt hours 鈥� providing enough electricity for 240,000 homes and preventing 1.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. 聽One example of their work includes the first solar project under the Ontario FIT program, and Ontario鈥檚 largest wind farm, the 270 MW 麻豆传媒AV Kent facility in the municipality of Chatham-Kent.
The company is looking at developing in Saskatchewan because of the provincial government鈥檚 desire to increase renewable energy on the grid to 50% by the year 2030.
Andrea Cosman, an associate developer with RES, said the intended area meets the developer鈥檚 key points for establishing such a project.
鈥淭here are always three main components to a wind project; the quality of the wind resource being the primary one,鈥� she said.聽 鈥淭here鈥檚 a good wind resource here in this area.聽 The land is also constructible, and we don鈥檛 expect there to be too many environmental constraints, and so we鈥檒l be able to build.聽 The third one is that we鈥檙e near transmission, so there are several transmission lines going near the project, so there is potential to connect to those.鈥�
Though the venture is in the early stages, Cosman says there have been previous meetings with RM鈥檚 and talks with landowners that were quite positive.
鈥淭his is the introductory stage,鈥� she said.聽 鈥淲e鈥檝e done a few municipal meetings and spoken to landowners in the area, but this is another public meeting where we鈥檙e here to present the project in a more public way.聽 We鈥檙e still in the early development stage, so there鈥檚 more room to change the project depending on the feedback that we get.鈥�
The proposal by the RES Group is one that the company feels strong about, but it鈥檚 also not a guarantee, as Cosman says it鈥檒l have to be submitted to SaskPower for approval; one of likely dozens of projects that developers hope will get the green light.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a new request for proposals that鈥檚 been launched by SaskPower and the deadline for it is March 1, so there are probably about 30-40 projects that are going to submit proposals into this tender,鈥� she said.聽 鈥淭he project with the best price and a good community acceptance will probably be the winner.鈥�
Stephen Cookson, RES Group鈥檚 director of development, went over a slideshow presentation with those in attendance and touted the benefits that the company says the wind energy project would see, including over $1 million per year in lease payments to landowners for its 25-year lifespan, as well as another estimated one million dollars per year in municipal tax payments over the same span of time.聽 As well, it was said that the project would provide up to 150 full-time equivalent jobs during construction and 12 permanent jobs during its operation.
The project would see a total investment of approximately $400 million, including significant spending on local goods and services during its development, construction and operational phases.
An estimated timeline of the development shows that it would require roughly a year to construct, starting in late 2019, and the RES Group says the turbines operating by early 2021 would be ideal.
鈥淲e think this is a competitive project, and we鈥檒l bid again in the future if need be,鈥� said Cookson.
After all the prospective energy projects for the province have been submitted, it鈥檚 expected that SaskPower will select the winning proposal in September.
