Centennial Wind Power Facility rides the wind to a great first year

Powered by the steady winds of southwest Saskatchewan, the 150-megawatt Centennial Wind Power Facility has completed its first year with a 42.4 per cent capacity factor - a rating in the top ten per cent of wind power facilities around the world. SaskPower International reports that it exceeded its operational targets in the first year of operations and that both the technology and the wind resource are proving to be world-class.

"Wind power is an important component of our current generation mix and may grow in significance for SaskPower as we look to power the future," says John Nilson, Minister Responsible for SaskPower. "The first year success of SaskPower International’s Centennial Wind Power Facility only goes to reinforce that."

"This is a prime example of Saskatchewan's commitment to power generation that is environmentally sound and that helps build a strong future here for our families and our young people," adds Nilson.

Located approximately 25 kilometres south-east of the city of Swift Current, each of the 83 wind turbines is capable of generating 1.8 megawatts of power. When it began commercial operations last year, the Centennial Wind Power Facility was the largest single wind facility operating in Canada. Saskatchewan now has 172 megawatts of wind capacity – approximately 5 per cent of the province’s total generation capacity, and currently one of the highest percentages in the country.

"Before the facility was built, wind testing and mapping identified the strong wind resource in that area," says Pat Youzwa, President and CEO of SaskPower. "The first-year’s results attest to that resource, as over 555 Gigawatt hours of renewable wind energy were produced in the first year of operation. This is equivalent to the electricity consumed annually by 69,000 homes."

All generation is purchased by SaskPower for the provincial electricity system. The Government of Canada will provide approximately $54 million in funding over ten-years to the project through the Wind Power Production Incentive Program.

The Centennial Wind Power Facility is part of SaskPower’s Green Power Portfolio. The strategy driving the portfolio is to ensure all new electricity needs in Saskatchewan until 2010 are met with environmentally friendly power sources that do not add to greenhouse gas emissions.