Wind Power

Wind power is part of our answer to climate change and represents significant opportunities for economic growth and fuel diversification. Through Vision Quest, we are a leading developer of wind power, operating nearly 50 per cent of Canada’s installed wind power capacity.

Vision Quest operates 220 wind turbine power plants in Alberta. Output from our facilities is enough energy to supply more than 120,000 homes. Our wind facilities are EcoLogo™ certified under Environment Canada’s Environmental Choice Program, a designation granted to green power sources that demonstrate environmental performance and meet, or exceed, all government, industrial and performance standards.

New wind farm at Summerview

In 2004, we added a fifth wind farm to our wind power business when we launched commercial operation of the Summerview wind farm, near Pincher Creek in southern Alberta. It has a capacity of 68 MW and represents the first phase of a 130-MW project. The $100 million wind farm uses 39 turbines to produce enough power to light up over 28,000 homes.

Exploring other wind markets

Building on our successful track record in Alberta, we are interested in developing a stronger foothold for our wind power business in other Canadian markets. In 2004, we opened a Vision Quest office in Toronto. We are also working on two proposed wind farms near Kincardine, Ontario. In 2004, land preparation, project evaluation and equipment selection were completed for the projects, which will be able to produce up to 75 MW, once approved and built.

We have also procured wind resource properties in wind basins in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. More than 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land are under lease, option or negotiation, holding the potential for more than 750 MW of future wind energy development.

Expanding green tag sales

Renewable energy facilities produce two distinct products. One is electricity. The other is the “bundle” of environmental benefits that result from producing renewable energy.

Vision Quest sells the benefits of renewable energy from our wind turbines in the form of “green tags,” a marketable product that businesses and individuals can use to offset the environmental impacts of their electricity use. Selling this green energy product enables Vision Quest to expand its market beyond the borders of the traditional electricity system.

In 2004, we completed several sales of green tags in the U.S. and across Canada. These included a cross-border deal to supply green tags to Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a Washington state non-profit organization dedicated to the development and use of new renewable energy resources. We also signed a three-year agreement with the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development, an Alberta-based environmental organization, to supply wind-generated green tags for sale to consumers across Canada.

Helping to power PCs by wind

Vision Quest is working in partnership with the Pembina Institute to offer the environmental group’s Wind Power PCs Program. Launched in late 2004, the PCs Program aims to power some 20,000 computers by wind by 2005. The program focuses on computers because the devices are among the fastest-growing users of electricity in Canada, with Canadians turning on about 14 million computers each day.

Under the program, PC users buy green tags that “green” the electricity used by computers and help grow wind energy. Pembina purchases the certificates from Vision Quest and in turn sells them directly to the public on its website. Profits from certificate sales will be used to help offset the costs of producing wind power, eventually enabling Vision Quest to invest in new wind power projects across Canada.

Studying wind farm impacts on bats

Bats occasionally collide with wind turbines, as they do with other tall structures. In 2004, we completed several bat studies at our Vision Quest wind farm sites in Alberta and our prospective sites in Ontario. The studies focused on how and when bats migrate, and the impact of wind power sites on migratory patterns. Our studies will contribute to scientific knowledge about bats and enable our company to continue to site our wind farms so as to minimize wildlife impacts.