Minister of Environment, Energy and Forestry Jamie Ballem announced today that construction of the Eastern Kings Wind Farm came in significantly under budget. Initial projections were approximately $55 million and the final cost is $47 million.
Speaking to the Charlottetown Rotary Club, Minister Ballem attributed the savings to a change in site design and the excellent work of the project managers, Frontier Power Systems Inc., and local contractors.
“There were a dozen Island businesses that worked on various parts of the project from road construction to pouring foundations. The quality of their work was excellent, but beyond that, they displayed a dedication to the job that made the difference. They were willing to do whatever they could to get this project done.”
Minister Ballem said the biggest savings in construction costs resulted from the change in the siting of the turbines. In the original design, the 10 turbines were laid out in three lines close to East Point. In response to concerns about the impact of the turbines on migratory birds, the design was changed and the turbines were located in one line on a ridge west of East Point. That resulted in lower transmission and road construction costs and also saved on things such as the crane rental because less time was spent moving from turbine to turbine.
Minister Ballem said the $47 million price tag for the Eastern Kings Wind Farm works out to a cost of $1,567 per kilowatt – significantly lower than similar projects. Wind farms in central Canada and the eastern United States have cost from $1,800 to more than $2,000 per kilowatt.
Since the Eastern Kings Wind Farm began commercial operation in January, Minister Ballem said it has generated just over $1 million in revenue. The wind farm produces enough electricity to supply 12,000 homes or 7.5 per cent of PEI’s total electricity needs. As a result, $8 million that used to be spent off-Island each year to import electricity will now stay on-Island, contributing to the provincial economy.
BACKGROUNDER
EASTERN KINGS WIND FARM
Project Overview:
• Owned and operated by the PEI Energy Corporation, a Crown corporation, the wind farm will consist of 10 Vestas V-90 turbines with a capacity of three megawatts each – for a total capacity of 30 megawatts.
• The project capital cost is approximately $47 million – significantly lower than initial projections.
• A 44-kilometre transmission line, built by Maritime Electric Company, Ltd., carries energy from the wind farm to a substation at Dingwell’s Mills.
• Annual production will be 90-95 million kilowatt hours. The average house uses about 8,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually so the wind farm will produce enough electricity to power about 12,000 homes.
• The Eastern Kings Wind Farm will supply about 7.5% of PEI’s electricity.
• The wind farm will displace 75,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year. That is the equivalent of taking about 16,000 cars off the road.
Construction:
• Road clearing and road building began in mid-July 2006.
• The turbine components were shipped from Denmark and Scotland and arrived in Souris in September 2006.
• The turbines were assembled with a 400-tonne crane. Designed specifically to build wind farms, the crane came from Ontario in 15 tractor trailers and was assembled onsite with smaller cranes.
• The wind farm began commercial operation in January 2007.
Turbine Dimensions:
• Vestas is the largest turbine manufacturer in the world and the V-90 is the largest wind turbine in North America.
• A prototype of the V-90 was first introduced at Norway in western Prince County in 2003.
• The turbines being installed at the Eastern Kings Wind Farm are version five of the V-90 and the PEI project is the first V-90 wind farm in Canada.
• The rotor diameter is 90 metres, thus the name V-90. The rotor diameter of the turbines at North Cape is 47 metres.
• The turbine tower comes in four sections – weighing 25-30 tonnes each. The tower height is 81 metres high – equivalent to a 26 storey building. The turbines at North Cape have a 50-metre tower height. The Peace Tower in Ottawa is 92.2 metres high.
• The nacelle, which houses the generator, weighs approximately 90 tonnes.
• Each blade weighs 6.7 tonnes. An average car weighs a little over one tonne.
• The foundation is octagon shaped and is 17 metres from side to side and three metres deep. Each foundation contains approximately 1.4 million kilograms of concrete or about 80-85 truckloads. A typical house foundation contains four truckloads of concrete.
Economic Benefits:
• Local contractors for the Eastern Kings Wind Farm include:
- Project management – Frontier Power Systems Inc.
- Road construction – Cardigan Excavators Ltd.
- Land clearing – Ryan Wood Producers, Andy Cudmore
- Turbine foundations – Perry’s Construction & Ready Mix
- Concrete supply – MacLean’s Ready Mix Concrete Ltd.
- Site security – D.F. Barry & Associates
- General contractor for operations building – Cahill Construction
- Substation construction – Maritime Electric Company, Ltd.
- Turbine erection – Wind Energy Institute of Canada (North Cape), Burke’s Custom Metal Works Inc.
- Electrical distribution – H-Line Construction
- Geotechnical design – Jacques Whitford (Charlottetown)
- Electricians – AMAC Electric Ltd.
- Electrical equipment – Harris & Roome Supply
• 2.5% of the gross revenue from the wind farm will go to local landowners – 70% to landowners with a turbine located on their property and 30% to adjacent landowners.
• An annual donation of $25,000 will be made to the Community of Eastern Kings.
• An additional $8 million in energy spending will stay on-Island each year. This is money that used to be spent off-Island to import electricity.
• Islanders have an opportunity to invest in the wind farm through the purchase of PEI Energy Savings Bonds. The interest rate is 5% over 5 years.