B.C. wind project wins clean energy award

TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. – The Meikle Wind power facility, located near Tumbler Ridge, B.C., has received the Project Excellence Award from Clean Energy BC.

“Pattern Energy’s Meikle Wind facility is an outstanding example of how to bring together zero-carbon energy generation, local economic development and sustainable business. We are honoured to have this project in British Columbia and we look forward to many more,” said Jae Mather, executive director of Clean Energy BC, in press release.

Pattern Energy CEO Mike Garland explained that the mountain site  and extreme weather made building the 179-megawatt facility one of the most challenging the company has faced.

“It was also a unique project because during construction we discovered rare fossilized dinosaur tracks, which we donated to the Tumbler Ridge Museum,” said Garland. “Now B.C.’s largest wind power facility, Meikle Wind, is generating economic benefits for First Nations and the community and clean power for 54,000 homes in the province, every year for the next quarter century. We’d like to thank the community for their support and the First Nations construction workers that helped build this project.”

The Meikle Wind facility includes of 61 GE wind turbines, including 35, 3.2 MW turbines and 26, 2.75 MW turbines. The facility’s layout, developed in collaboration with GE, incorporates two different turbine models consisting of varying rotor sizes and hub heights. This design was developed to capture the most energy from the ridgelines, accounting for varying wind speeds, wind shear, turbulence and inflow angles.

During the build, Meikle Wind racked up 500,000 person-hours of labour and awarded more than 30 per cent of the value of contracts to First Nation-affiliated contractors and other regional firms. The facility is managed by 16 operations and maintenance personnel and utilizes a variety of local subcontractors.

The project will also produce roughly $70 million in payments for property taxes, Crown lease payments, wind participation rent and community benefits over the first 25 years of operations, states the release. The facility commenced commercial operations in the first quarter of 2017 and operates under a 25-year power purchase agreement with BC Hydro.