Saskatchewan’s largest wind farm breaks ground

The province’s largest wind farm is planned near Assiniboia in a joint venture involving Indigenous and local partners. Wayne Mantyka reports.

Ground has been broken on what will become Saskatchewan’s largest wind farm, a project provincial officials say will strengthen energy security while expanding renewable power generation.

The Rose Valley Wind Project will feature about two dozen turbines capable of generating 200 megawatts of electricity. The development is notable not only for its size, but because it will be the first wind farm built on Hutterite colony land in Saskatchewan.

The project reflects the province’s strategy of maintaining a diverse electricity grid.

“I think we have one of the most diversified power grids in the entire country,” said Jeremy Harrison, Minister in Charge, SaskPower. “That’s through design and that is very much at the centre of the energy security strategy.”

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Rose Valley Colony director Paul Kleinsasser said the long-term nature of the project made it an attractive opportunity for the colony.

“This is a 30 to 40-year term and it’s got to be good, and we are basically all for it,” Kleinsasser said.

The project is a joint venture involving the Rose Valley Colony, the Meadow Lake Tribal Council and Potentia Renewables.

“We have our Southern Springs solar project which we are also building, majority owned by the M2 partnership of Mistawasis and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council but that about another year, a year behind Rose Valley,” said Potentia Renewables CEO Ben Greenhouse

Once operational, the Rose Valley wind farm’s 200-megawatt capacity, combined with the recently completed 100-megawatt solar facility near Estevan, will provide generation roughly equivalent to a large conventional coal-fired unit at Boundary Dam.

The project is part of Saskatchewan’s growing investment in renewable energy. Officials say renewables now account for about one-third of SaskPower’s generating capacity.

Despite that growth, SaskPower says natural gas and other conventional sources will continue to play an important role when renewable generation is limited by weather conditions. The utility noted that Alberta has experienced several days of low wind generation recently, requiring additional electricity imports, including power supplied from Saskatchewan.

Construction timelines for the Rose Valley project have not yet been announced.