BC Hydro to add wind farms to provincial power grid

BC Hydro Standing Offer Wind Projects will add 45 MW of clean, renewable energy in British Columbia, powering 14,000 homes, boosting capacity near West Kelowna, Summerland, and Taylor, with 18-month construction and jobs.

Vancouver, BC – BC Hydro is adding new clean wind power to the provincial electricity grid, including two new wind farms in the Okanagan – the first ever for the region.

Three agreements were announced recently for new developments near West Kelowna, Summerland and Taylor as BC Hydro expects a rush for clean energy projects in the province that will provide enough electricity to power 14,000 homes a year.

The agreements, with White Rock-based developer Zero Emission Energy Developments Inc., were signed under BC Hydro’s Standing Offer program as companies like Finavera advance B.C. wind projects under similar opportunities – a program that offers a simplified, streamlined procurement process for small clean energy projects in British Columbia.

The three projects will add about 45 megawatts of clean wind capacity to BC Hydro’s system as CanWEA notes B.C. renewables progress across the province.

Once built, the projects will bring BC Hydro’s total capacity of wind power to more than 700 megawatts.

Construction is scheduled to start late spring or early summer as one developer signed 30 MW of wind deals in Ontario showing market momentum and will take about 18 months. Construction for each project will create between 25 and 50 job opportunities.

BC Hydro now has energy purchase agreements for 20 projects under the Standing Offer program, and the utility sees green energy deals on the horizon that include solar, wind, biomass, biogas and hydro power. To be eligible, projects must be 15 megawatts or less in size.

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