New Richmond, Saint-Alphonse and Caplan

The New Richmond, Saint-Alphonse and Caplan facilities are located on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec. The $205 million project, completed in 2013, provided over 200 jobs during the construction.

The facility uses both Enercon E82 2,000 kilowatt wind turbines and Enercon E82 2,300 kilowatt wind turbines with 98-metre towers. The Enercon E82 turbines were manufactured partly in Germany and partly in Quebec. The turbine is formed from 18 concrete sections made in Matane and two steel sections made in New Richmond.

Nacelles (enclosures that house the generating components such as the generator and the dynamic chain) and the blades were shipped from Germany to the port of Matane. The turbines in New Richmond begin to rotate when the wind reaches nine km/h and when the wind speed exceeds 100 km/h, an automatic braking function engages to avoid damage.

The facility has a capacity of 67.8 megawatts generated by 33 wind turbines. Eighteen turbines are located in New Richmond, 14 in St-Alphonse and one in Caplan. Twelve turbines are installed on public land and the other 21 are on private land.

Power from the facility is sold under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Hydro-Quebec.

The New Richmond, St- Alphonse and Caplan wind farm operates as New Richmond Wind LP, a subsidiary of TransAlta.

Environmental highlights

The New Richmond, St- Alphonse and Caplan wind facility has a UL ECOLOGO® Certification for Renewable Energy.