Ottawa Contributing $49.9-Million To The Construction Of Saint John Wind Farm
SAINT JOHN – Ottawa is contributing $49.9-million to the Burchill Wind Project, said Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long in a joint announcement with Natural Forces and Tobique First Nation Tuesday in Saint John.
“Together we are setting the tone for what green energy development will look like across the Maritimes, and hopefully across our country,” he said.
The federal funding will be provided by the Natural Resources Canada Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program (SREPs), which has provided $922-million over four years for smart renewable energy and electrical grid modernization projects.
The Burchill Wind Project is a partnership between the Tobique First Nation and Natural Forces Development.
The wind farm will consist of 10 wind turbine generators, which will produce up to 42 megawatts of clean, renewable energy for homes and businesses on the Saint John Energy grid.
It also has a utility-scale energy storage facility.
Originally, the project cost was set at approximately $60-million, however, it now stands at $95-million.
“The $60 million was probably a low number to begin with, and now we’re seeing price increases due to the supply chain, which is happening across the world,” said Robert Apold, executive director of Natural Forces. “I would say turbine prices have increased since that time, but also we’re adding a lot of other pieces that weren’t part of that original design.”
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Even though there are worldwide issues in the supply chain, Apold said the wind farm will still be up and running by the end of 2022.
“The turbines should be arriving in September, and as you can see the first pour starts this week, so foundations should be done by the end of June, and then the site just waits until the turbines show up, and then we install them.”
Ross Perley, Chief of the Tobique First Nation, was also part of the announcement.
During an interview, Perley mentioned the project has massive benefits for his community, especially as construction continues to pick up speed.
“We have skilled labour, we have operators, scaffolders, where ever we can employ people from the community, not just Tobique, but other Wolastoqey communities as well we’re going to make them a priority.”
Burchill is the second wind project for the Tobique First Nation and Natural Forces.
Wocawson Wind is located east of Sussex.
“We’re using our experience, and using our relationships that we’ve developed through Wocawson to jump into this project.”
Chief Perley added the Wocawson location is overperforming, and he hopes Burchill will do the same.
“I’m hopeful that this one will overperform as well because it’s in a good area for wind.”
Tim Herd is a reporter with Country 94, a Huddle content partner.