Legislative Electronic Publications -- Southern Manitoba Community Home To One Of Canada's Largest Wind Farm Projects

Manitoba Government News Release:
Information Services, Room 29, Legislative Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 0V8 Telephone: (204)
945-3746 Fax: (204) 945-3988

December 03, 2004

SOUTHERN MANITOBA COMMUNITY HOME TO ONE OF CANADA'S LARGEST WIND FARM PROJECTS
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Collaborative, 'Win-Wind', Clean Energy Project: Chomiak

ST. LEON—Residents of southern Manitoba’s St. Leon district can look forward to the establishment of one of Canada’s largest wind farm projects, Energy, Science and Technology Minister Dave Chomiak said at an official sod-turning ceremony here today.

Chomiak, Dave Kerr from AirSource Power Fund and Ruth Kristjanson from Manitoba Hydro were among those attending today’s sod-turning for the $187-million project involving up to 50 local owners and 65 square kilometres of land.

"Today marks the beginning of a significant and innovative clean energy endeavour for rural Manitoba," said Chomiak. "We are not only breaking new ground for the construction of over 60 wind turbine generators in southern Manitoba but we are also charting new territory in Canada with this collaborative partnership to harvest the world’s fastest-growing energy source."

Chomiak said that phase one of the project will include completing the construction of 12 turbines by next May with the remainder to follow by the end of 2005. For more than two years, wind conditions around St. Leon were monitored by technicians and identified as a world-class wind source location.

"On behalf of AirSource Power I am excited to be here today and see this project move ahead," said Kerr. "I congratulate the community of St. Leon and the province of Manitoba for their support and enthusiasm which will contribute greatly to the wind farm’s overall success."

The St. Leon Wind Energy Project site is located 150 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, covering both the RM’s of Lorne and Pembina. The 99-MW project will consist of 63 Vestas V82 wind turbine generators supported by 80-metre towers each having a base four metres in diameter. Also among the turbine’s main components are three blades stretching 40 metres in length each, approximately equivalent to the height of a large grain elevator. Turbines, access roads and any related equipment will occupy less than five per cent of the wind farm area with the remainder of land being available for agricultural use.

"I would like to take this opportunity to applaud AirSource for their vision," said Bob Brennan, CEO of Manitoba Hydro. "And I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of those at Manitoba Hydro, at the province and within the RM’s of Lorne and Pembina, who worked to make this wind farm a part of Manitoba’s future."

Chomiak noted the project is expected to generate 300 direct or indirect jobs, provide $9 million in revenue to local landowners over the next 25 years, will result in over
$100 million in operating expenditures and may include a tourist component in the future.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Wind Facts

Global Perspective

The global wind industry increased by over 8,000 megawatts (MW) in 2003 and generating capacity is over 39,000 MW. Wind is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world, with growth averaging roughly 25 to 30 per cent over the past five years.
Most of the installed capacity is in Germany, Spain and Denmark but North America is expected to witness significant growth.
Canada has an installed base of 439 MW and has about 50,000 MW of developable wind resource —enough to supply 20 per cent of Canada's electricity supply.
The U.S. nearly doubled its capacity in the last two years and currently has 6,374 MW installed capacity or about 16 per cent of the global capacity.
Improvements in technology and larger turbines are driving costs down, allowing wind generation to penetrate new markets.

Why Wind in Manitoba?

Manitoba possesses a number of fundamentals that support large-scale wind farm development. These advantages include:

Southwest Manitoba has a world-class wind regime that makes wind projects commercially viable and competitive with hydrogeneration.
Virtually all of the province's electricity is generated by water. A hydraulic system can store energy in reservoirs when the wind is blowing and release water to generate electricity when the wind is calm.
Manitoba has accessible transmission so the power can be sent to markets when it is needed.
The land and terrain in southwestern Manitoba lend themselves to large-scale wind farm development. Turbines complement the farming community because they only occupy a small footprint of land.
Wind turbines provide landholders an additional source of income.
Wind turbines also provide municipalities an additional source of revenue.
Wind generated electricity provides diversity to our renewable energy mix.

St. Leon Project

The St. Leon Wind Energy Project site is located 150 kilometres southwest of the city of Winnipeg, near the town of St. Leon and within three kilometres of a 230-kilovolt Manitoba Hydro transmission line.

Bison Wind Inc. was the initial developer of the St. Leon Wind Energy Project. Bison Wind is a Winnipeg based joint venture between Sequoia Energy Inc., a Canadian wind developer and Global Renewable Energy Partners Inc. (GREP), a U.S. based wind developer. The St. Leon Wind Energy Project was acquired from Bison Wind by Airsource LP in October of 2004.

Airsource Power Fund 1 LP is a limited partnership created by Algonquin Power Income Fund and Greenwing Energy Inc. Algonquin Power Income Fund is an open-ended investment trust based in Oakville Ontario and is listed on the TSX (symbol APF.UN). The fund owns direct interest or equity in hydroelectric plants, cogeneration plants and alternative fuels plants and has arranged financing for the project.

The project will result in the following estimated economic impacts:

$187 million in new capital and $108 million in lifetime operating expenditures;
approximately $ 36 million (over the life of the project) in federal support through the Wind Power Production Incentive; and
approximately $15 million in property taxes, $14 million in provincial income tax, $5.4 million in capital tax and $12 million in provincial sales tax over 20 plus years.

Access rights to the land required to construct and operate the 99-MW project have been obtained from individual landowners and the average annual wind energy production is projected to be enough to power 35,000 homes or meet the total energy needs of the communities of Portage La Prairie and Morden combined.

The project will be built with 63 Vestas V82 wind turbine generators with 80-metre towers and will be one of the largest wind farms in North America and the largest to date in Canada. Vestas is undertaking the construction and construction management is being carried out by Algonquin Power Systems Inc. Once built, the facility will be operated by Vestas and Algonquin Power Systems.

Vestas began wind turbine manufacturing in 1979 and is the world leader in wind technology and market share. Vestas’ core business comprises the development, manufacture, sale, marketing and maintenance of wind power systems that use wind energy to generate electricity. Vestas has about 35 per cent of the installed global capacity, has 12 plants worldwide and currently globally employs over 9,500 people.

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