Suppliers, subcontractors needed for wind farm

Officials with Capital Power will be hosting firms from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in Bow Island, with no preregistration required

Vendors and subcontractors looking to get in on next year’s wind farm construction near Bow Island — valued at more than $300 million — are cordially invited to talk specifications and qualifications with Capital Power today in Bow Island.

Initial work on the Whitla Wind Farm should get underway this fall with the bulk of construction on the 58-turbine facility following in 2019.

Today, officials with Edmonton-based Capital Power are hosting firms to discuss how local and regional contractors can access contracts

“It will provide vendors with information on of the kind of skills we need to build the project, the supplies that we’ll be looking for, what sort of qualifications are required and the safety standards we expect,” said Jerry Billikka, the company’s director of external relations.

“That information will be available to local companies that are interested in offering their services primarily for the construction.”

No registration is needed for the drop-in sessions — held between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. — to meet with project managers and engineers.

An evening session at the Bow Island Legion is open to the general public and will act as a community consultation session as mandated by the Alberta Utilities Commission.

The company announced in late 2017 the total construction budget would be in the range of C$310 million to C$325 million.

Billikka told the News on Wednesday the project could well involve several major contractors, or be managed internally within the company.

Either way, he said, there will be a need for subcontractors and suppliers in a range of typical areas, such as construction electrical, steel, concrete, trucking, gravel and earth moving.

“There’s a real variety,” said Billikka.

The planned 200megawatt wind farm won a renewable energy auction held in 2017, during which supply contracts for 600 megawatts of renewably-sourced electricity were let for a 20-year period. The result was a record low supply price of 3.9-cents per kilowatt hour,

Capital Power announced in its fourth-quarter earnings report the project would be partly paid for with internal funds as well as debt. When in full operations, the same report stated it could add $25 million per year to annual revenue before tax and other adjustments.