Optimism blowing in air for Halkirk Wind Project

Construction of the 350-million Halkirk Wind Project is underway and that has County of Paintearth officials so excited about the future that they’ve begun calling themselves “the energy capital of East Central Alberta.”

And after those 83 turbines come on board, there’s already the real possibility of another 83 turbines being constructed within the next couple of years, which would match the Halkirk area with the biggest wind farm in not only the province, but the entire country.

“We already have a very strong oil and gas sector, we have the Battle River Generating Plant and now we have the wind towers,” said County of Paintearth CAO Tarolyn Peach.

“We call ourselves the energy capital of East Central Alberta — and we truly believe we are.”

Capital Power Corporation is in the process of constructing roads and other infrastructure for the first project, which is expected to bring in 200 workers and potential jobs to the area while construction is underway over the next two years. Another dozen permanent jobs will be created to maintain the facilities.

The company expects to lay the foundation for the turbines by May and have the towers shipped to the area in the coming months. The wind towers will cover a span of 20 kilometres east of town and will be able to produce 150 megawatts of power for the provincial grid at full capacity.

Project manager Al Pettican said the community has played a big part in making the project happen.

“I’ve done a lot of projects in Alberta and other parts of Canada and overseas, and I’ve never come across a group of people in the county offices and in the farmsteads that have been so helpful and so willing to help us move this project along,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”

Benefits to the county include increased tax revenue from the wind farm, as well as the hundreds of potential jobs and all the economic offshoots for local businesses. A job fair will be held in the near future.

“The general contractor would like to make them all local. There will be jobs ... and it’s only going to get bigger,” Pettican said.

Greengate Power Corporation, which partnered with Capital Power on the Halkirk Wind Project and sold its stake last year, is in the process now of assessing the potential for another 83 wind turbines that would sit east of Halkirk, near the others. That project is being referred to as the Paintearth Wind Project, and Greengate president and CEO Dan Balaban believes there’s huge potential in the area for alternative energy.

“We’re in the process of converting the potential into reality,” he said. “It’s a project that’s high up on our priority list and we’re continuing to advance it. So far, it looks pretty comparable to the first phase, which obviously has a phenomenal wind resource.”

Construction on the Paintearth Wind Project could begin in a couple of years. Balaban said he’s excited to see the first phase of the Halkirk project finally underway, just more than four years after Greengate started exploring the area.

“I’m absolutely delighted that we have been able to deliver on the commitments we made to the community and ultimately see the largest wind project in Alberta in the County of Paintearth,” he said. “(It will) enable the county and region to realize all the economic benefits that go along with it.”

Capital Power has already purchased land in Halkirk for tits offices and Peach said if the activity in the village is any indication, it’s about to get very busy in the County of Paintearth.

“The County of Paintearth is very excited about this project,” she said. “If you go by (what’s happening) in Halkirk … it’s great to see.”

Numbers for the increase in tax base to the county weren’t immediately available. The towers are expected to be on line, possibly, by late next year.