‘Very cost effective’: Sharp Hills Wind Farm located north of Medicine Hat now fully operational

On a windy day, just north of Sedalia, Alta., you can hear the sound of power being generated at Sharp Hills Wind Farm.

The EDP renewables project has 67 turbines spread out over 60,000 acres of land.

A 15-year distribution rights agreement is owned by TC Energy for the wind farm, which, at full capacity, generates 297 megawatts.

Tom LoTurco, the executive vice president for eastern U.S., Canada and government affairs with EDP Renewables, said the average power generation of the wind farm is 45 per cent.

“One of the reasons that we wanted to develop in the Special Areas is that it’s a particularly windy location,” LoTurco said.

“It’s also got a fantastic backbone for the transmission system that ATCO owns,” he added.

“We have some of those two really good ingredients, and the third one is that we’ve got really fantastic landowners.”

Four hundred people were employed during the construction of the facility performed by Borea Construction.

The facility will now employ 10 full time staff, up from the original seven they had previously announced.

The Alberta government’s decision in August to place a moratorium on approvals for green energy projects for at least six months has stalled a number of these developments.

While EDP wasn’t impacted, LoTurco hopes to see other projects move ahead quickly one the moratorium is lifted.

“We should all be watching to be sure that the amount of investment that’s made in the renewables sphere continues,” LoTurco said.

“Because there is a lot of interest, a lot of jobs being created,” he added.

“The projects being built are very cost effective.”

He adds to combat against the volatility of natural gas prices, renewables can be part of the solution.

Natural gas provides the majority of power in Medicine Hat, however wind power is something the city does utilize on a small scale.

Three turbines at the Box Springs Wind Farm provides about one percent of the cities energy supply.

Travis Tuchscherer the manager of energy marketing and business analysis with the City of Medicine Hat said that it’s a small chunk that does contribute and the renewable piece they are happy to bring into their system.

“The city is looking at different options right now,” Tuchscherer said.

“Renewables being one, there’s other options such as carbon capture and sequestration or hydrogen production that we could look at using as well,” he added.

“We’re looking at all different options and trying to take a cautious approach to transition.”

But, according to LoTurco, that transition to renewable energy isn’t going to happen overnight.

“There’s a long time before we get to a point where there’s 100 per cent renewable penetration,” LoTurco said.

“There are some places where you start to see 25 to 30 per cent, and those areas the grids are abel to deal with it,” he added.

“The technology is improving a lot is what I would say.”

LoTurco said as renewables become more reliable over time he feels it’s a pretty exciting future.

by Jesse Gill

‘Very cost effective’: Sharp Hills Wind Farm located north of Medicine Hat now fully operational

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