GE announced October 4 that its new wind turbine technology is now powering Suncor Energy’s 20MW Kent Breeze Wind Project, located west of Thamesville, Ontario. The project is the first wind power facility to receive a Renewable Energy Approval (REA) under the province’s Green Energy Act. (See “Environmental tribunal decision bolsters windfarms,” IPPSO FACTO, August 2011.)
The Kent Breeze project marks Suncor’s first use of GE’s 2.5-100 wind turbines, designed to maximize the energy yield per machine and introduced to the North American market last year. The Kent Breeze project has a two-year operations and maintenance contract with GE. Kent Breeze is the second wind energy project that Suncor has been involved with in Ontario, and the first wholly owned by the company.
Suncor’s next project, the Wintering Hills wind farm in Alberta, will also use GE wind turbine technology. Suncor is part owner of two other projects in Alberta that feature GE equipment, ChinChute and Magrath. Beyond the wind business, GE has partnered with Suncor on multiple power generation other projects in western Canada’s oil sands.