Finally, another wind project gets underway in BC!
November 24, 2010
After a shaky start and the financial collapse of the original proponent, Earth First Canada, British Columbia’s Dokie Wind Farm is now generating electricity from 11 of its erected 48 turbines.
The $228 million farm on a ridge near Chetwynd, BC is a partnership between Plutonic Power and GE Energy Financial Services, the backers of the world’s largest wind project in northern Oregon. Plutonic says in a news release that the 11 turbines “will sell energy generated during commissioning-prior to the commercial operation date, or “COD” -to Powerex, a subsidiary of BC Hydro.” Plutonic is better known as the proponent behind the East Toba River and Montrose Creek run-of-river projects on Toba Inlet. The company has been the target of a campaign by local residents who are opposed to BC’s largest clean energy development projects in the region. The East Toba River and Montrose Creek run-of-river projects began selling electricity to BC Hydro in August under a 35-year Electricity Purchase Agreement (“EPA”) with the crown corporation. The Dokie operation is Plutonic’s only wind project. Once it reaches full commercial operation in 2011, the farm will generate up to 340,000 MWh annually based on a 25-year EPA with BC Hydro.
The Dokie project joins BC’s first fully-operational wind park near Dawson Creek. The 102 MW Bear Mountain Wind Park,
owned by AltaGas, began generating electricity to the BC grid in October, 2009 and operates under a 25-year EPA with BC Hydro.
With the Dokie and Bear Mountain projects operational, BC can finally start to make some headway in the world of clean, renewable wind energy. BC has been lagging behind most other Canadian provinces, not from a lack of will, but from a bureaucratic process that makes it almost impossible to survive the years of development it takes to get a project off the ground. Dokie is a good example. Earth First Canada did not survive this process, and it was only through the backing of deep-pocketed companies like Plutonic Power and General Electric that this wind farm survived. This does not bode well for the future. While other provinces such as Alberta and Nova Scotia move forward with their wind energy plans and projects, we continue to drag our heels. What’s needed is an urgent push from our provincial cabinet to clearly identify wind energy as a viable solution, and direction to BC Hydro to make wind energy a priority. Only then can we start to take advantage of a renewable resource that can help this province reach its climate change goals.
More information about wind projects on British Columbia can be obtained from the BC Citizens for Green Energy website or from the Canadian Wind Energy Association (canwea).
