Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger set the first group of turbines at the province’s largest wind farm in motion January 11 by sparking electricity production near St. Joseph, near the North Dakota / Minnesota border.
Manitoba Hydro and Pattern Energy negotiated a 27-year power purchase agreement to make the project possible. Work continues on the balance of turbines and they are expected to be fully operational in the next month or two.
The total cost of the 138MW wind farm is estimated at $345 million. Pattern Energy will also pay landholders in the rural municipalities of Montcalm and Rhineland a total of $38 million over the life of the project.
The St. Joseph wind farm covers an area of 125 square kilometres of privately owned agricultural land in the two municipalities. The 2.3-megawatt turbines are set on towers that are 80 metres high. When fully operational, the wind farm will contribute to a regional reduction of more than 350,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases. Manitoba Hydro has partially financed the project with a 20-year construction term loan.
The project is the larger of Manitoba’s two wind farms. The first became operational in 2006 and is located near St. Leon, just southwest of Carman. That project produces 100 megawatts of electricity every year, enough to supply 35,000 homes.