Latest news with #SpencerLong
CTV News
13-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Turbine components arrive for P.E.I. wind farm expansion
Turbine components for the Eastern Kings Wind Farm expansion project have started to arrive in P.E.I. (Source: PEI Energy Corporation) Prince Edward Island residents should expect to see turbine components being transported on roads as the Eastern Kings Wind Farm expansion continues. The provincial government says turbine components are being unloaded in Georgetown and will be taken to East Point later this week. Drivers are told to expect delays due to the oversized loads on the roads. Additional components are expected to arrive in P.E.I. in June. Spencer Long, engineering project manager from the PEI Energy Corporation, said the expanded wind farm will deliver roughly 120 gigawatt hours per year. 'The energy generated from this new wind farm will be enough to power about 10,000 Island homes,' Long said in an email. 'The wind farm will also assist in stabilizing the cost of electricity over time. Together, the four existing wind farms developed by the PEI Energy Corporation generate more than 150 million kilowatt-hours of emission-free electricity per year for Island consumers. 'Our wind farms generate annual revenue of approximately $14 million for the province. The Eastern Kings Wind Farm expansion is expected to generate $10 million in revenue on top of that.' According to the energy corporation's website, heavy cranes will be used to install the turbines from July to September. The Eastern Kings Wind Farm has been operating 10 turbines since 2006. For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
04-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Turbine components for Eastern Kings wind farm expansion will start arriving this spring
Social Sharing 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. "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. 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. 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."
