Manitoba is looking to rival Alberta as a major player in the growing Wind energy market in Canada. Westman (NRC profile).
The CBC reports on a $1.5 Billion (CAD) project with the potential to produce as much as 1400MW of electricity. Enough to power “hundreds of thousands” of homes. The first phase is slated to be operational in two years.. the final by 2011.
According to the Westmans Wind Power website, they have 8 projects on the go across Manitoba.
The Prairies are certainly *the place* for wind energy in Canada. I have no doubt this will be a successful, and very important, project. Hopefully there are many more to follow.
Does the environment provide wind energy year-round? How far north can Canada go for wind energy? It would be interesting to know the economics of wind energy compared to fossil fuels as a source of electric power.
Yep, the Canadian Prairies have the reputation for wind.
I remember being taught about Winnipeg. Portage and Main is the main intersection in the town… apparently it’s know for it’s constant wind. I visited there a few years back in July..and it didn’t disappoint… it seemed to be the only place in the entire province that wasn’t overrun with mosquitoes…
I would hazard a guess that pretty much anywhere between the Rockies and Hudsons Bay would be prime wind farm country, year round. As far as northern boundaries. I really don’t know… but the amount of land up there is truly gigantic… I’m sure there are thousands of hectares of land suitable for year round wind turbines.
Considering they’re being installed in Churchill, I’m assuming -70C windchills won’t have an affect… it doesn’t get that much colder in Iqaluit, or Baffin Island, or Alert.
The problem would be the transmission lines… there would be significant loss of power stringing high-tension wires for thousands of miles from North of 60 to the main grid. But I think it would be doable.