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The next few months will see some massive parts moving through eastern P.E.I.
as the province works to put the finishing touches on a wind farm expansion. Starting in early May, components for seven new turbines destined for the Rural Municipality of Eastern Kings will begin to arrive by ship. The first vessel will arrive at port in Georgetown carrying tower sections that weigh 60-80 tonnes each.
Then in early June, a second ship is due that will be carrying the 200-foot turbine blades. Spencer Long, a project manager with the P.E.
I. Energy Corporation who's responsible for the Eastern Kings wind farm expansion, says seeing the turbine components begin to arrive will be a proud moment. (Zoom) "We've done this before in P.
E.I. in terms of managing inland transportation of large turbines, but this will be the biggest [we've] managed to date," said Spencer Long, the wind farm project manager with the P.
E.I. Energy Corporation.
"The logistics of moving 200-foot blades around with the specialized trailers...
everything is slow moving and carefully organized and handled, but a challenge nonetheless." Long said the deeper water at Georgetown's wharf means it's more accommodating for the massive ships, rather than using the much closer port in Souris. Access roads, crane pads and the foundations for the turbines were all finished last year, so the province expects the turbines to be completed by this fall.
Ballooning budget, and some controversies The expansion has been in the works since 2018 and was originally estimated to cost between $50 million and $60 million. That budget has since ballooned to $86 million, with Long citing the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine. The construction project also hasn't been without controversy.
Officials halted work last July after about a hectare of wetland was discovered during the construction of an access road to the wind farm's development site. This access road to the wind farm expansion's development site runs through about a hectare of wetland. (P.
E.I. Energy Corporation) Provincial officials determined that rerouting the road would have damaged other wetlands and meant the loss of more forest.
Instead, the province moved ahead with the original route but provided about $151,000 to a wetland compensation fund, something that's allowed under P.E.I.
's wetland policy if the government determines a loss can't be prevented. Before that, the government was locked in a four-year battle with the Rural Municipality of Eastern Kings over the wind farm's expansion, after the local council initially voted it down. The protracted negotiations eventually led to the province making regulatory changes under the Renewable Energy Act to give itself "clear authority" to issue permits for solar and wind farms, including within municipal boundaries.
Province's decision to run access road through wetland frustrates some in eastern P.E.I.
P.E.I.
asserts its 'clear authority' over wind farms, solar For its project manager, though, the wind farm expansion is a worthwhile step in making P.E.I.
a larger player in renewable energy. Long, who's worked on the project since its beginning, said seeing the components begin to move across Kings County in the coming months will be a proud moment. "I will probably get emotional to some degree, just from a personal standpoint," he said.
"It's important to be resilient and generate our own electricity in a world with so many unknowns that change so quickly.".
