- Electrical energy generated from wind is renewable and is considered clean as there are no direct emissions created in the transformation of the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. The emissions associated with the operation of a wind powered facility such as the combustion of natural gas for heating service buildings, indirect emissions from electricity used to power service buildings, and combustion of fuel for maintenance vehicles, etc. are small in comparison to the output of the wind energy generation facility. Therefore, wind-powered electricity has a very low overall emissions intensity.
- In comparison, most electricity generated by the Alberta grid is through the combustion of non-renewable fossil fuel based sources such as coal, resulting in a high overall emissions intensity.
- Electricity generated by the wind facility displaces gid electricity. Therefore, the baseline condition for this project is the emissions that would have been emitted from the generation of an equivalent amount of electricity from fossil fuel based sources. GHG emission reductions and removals are calculated using the Quantification Protocol for Wind-Powered Electricity Generation, (Version 1.0, March 2008).
- The Project includes 26 Siemens Gamesa turbines with a nameplate capacity of 5.0 MW, a hub height of 102.5 m and a rotor diameter of 145 m. The Project also includes access roads, new public roads (within municipal road allowances), a Project substation, underground collector lines and an O&M Facility, transmission interconnection line, and one permanent meteorological tower (met tower). The electricity generated from the Project is estimated to be approximately 130 megawatt (MW).