Wind project will power 90,000 homes

Saskpower will be adding more wind-generated electricity to its power supply.

The province announced Friday the Crown corporation had signed a 25-year agreement with Toronto-based Potentia Renewables for a new wind turbine project that will supply 200 megawatts of electricity.

The project, known as the Golden South Wind Energy facility, is expected to be up and running “as early as 2021” according to Environment Minister Dustin Duncan.

Located near Assiniboia, it will have 60 wind turbines that will produce enough electricity for approximately 90,000 homes in the province.

The project will bring Saskpower’s total wind power capacity up to more than 600 megawatts.

Saskpower has a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030.

Duncan said he was “very pleased” with the project because it helps “get us on the path of achieving ” that goal.

“These are all very important projects. We know that we need to change the portfolio, in terms of where and how Saskpower is generating electricity over the coming decade, to achieve that 40-per-cent reduction,” he said. “We’re very confident we can achieve that 40 per cent reduction, I would say at a minimum it will be a 40 per cent reduction by 2030 and these projects are obviously very important.”

Potentia was selected by SaskPower in a competitive tender process. Potentia is a developer, owner and operator of renewable energy assets that includes wind and solar power projects. The company is owned by Power Energy Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada.

We’re very confident we can achieve that 40percent reduction (to greenhouse gas emissions) by 2030.

Potentia owns and operates more than 700 installations, some of which are located in the U.S. The company also has assets under construction in Latin America.

Fifteen other companies prequalified to be reviewed during the selection process. Those companies put forward 29 different wind power proposals, with the average price of generation among those being $42 per megawatt hour.

Duncan would only say Potentia will be supplying power at a lower cost than that.