Members of Government caucus toured the Eastern Kings Wind Farm construction site today. Three of the 10 turbines have been erected, with work proceeding on the fourth turbine Friday. The wind farm will be in operation by the end of the year. It will supply about 7.5% of PEI’s electricity and displace 70,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year. Photos of the construction site and tour are available at www.gov.pe.ca/go/easternkingswindfarm .
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 $56 million.
• A 44-kilometre transmission line, being built by Maritime Electric Company, Ltd., will carry 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 70,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year. That is the equivalent of taking about 15,000 cars off the road.
Construction Period:
• 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.
• Three of the 10 turbines have been erected.
• The wind farm will be in operation by the end of 2006.
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 will be the first V-90 wind farm in North America.
• The rotor diameter is 90 metres, thus the name V-90. The rotor diameter of the turbines at North Cape is 47 metres.
• The height to the hub (the nose of the turbine) is 81 metres – equivalent to a 26-storey building. The turbines at North Cape have a 50-metre hub 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:
• Approximately $10 million worth of construction activity associated with the wind farm will stay on-Island. Local contractors 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.