Work
A typical windfarm goes through four major stages. These include development, constuction, operation, and decommissioning.
Stage 1: Development
The development stage involves extensive project planning and preparation, including:
Executing Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with Renewall customers.
Negotiation of the Crown Letter of Authority (LOA) and ultimately the lease for Crown land.
Measuring the wind conditions on-site.
Conducting the necessary studies to acquire interconnection agreements.
Acquiring municipal, provincial, and federal permits or approvals.
This includes full provincial Environmental Assessment (EA).
Refining the site layout based on the above information.
Securing project financing.
Procurement of major components (wind turbines and substation equipment).
In essence, we intend to conduct all aspects of project development as early as possible, beginning with on-site wind data collection by meteorological test towers and environmental studies granted by a LOA from the Crown.
Stage 2: Construction
Construction will begin, within the seasonal limitations set by our EA and Crown lease, with the gravel access roads. Given the size of the site, all tasks will be closely sequenced to reduce the total construction time.
Once the roads are completed up to the first wind turbine locations, then work will begin on the foundations, lay-down areas, and crane pad. Work on the interconnection substation and power lines will also commence in this time. Depending on the exact timing, the first turbine foundation may be poured, and the first electrical poles may be planted at the same time that the last pieces of road are being finished.
As the turbine sites are ready, the wind turbine components will begin to arrive. Their journey begins in the factories chosen by the manufacturer, travels by rail or sea, then along a carefully chosen, permitted route through the province and finally to the site itself. Smaller cranes will deposit the components in the laydown area, then construct the main crane on the compacted gravel crane pad. The main crane will lift the components into place, assembling each turbine in as little as one day. As the crane moves on to the next, the new wind turbine must be wired and finished inside.
Each wind turbine, along with the substation, must be tested extensively. The entire site must be tested from the substation after each turbine is commissioned individually. Once commissioned, the site is ready to operate.
Stage 3: Operation
Over the course of the project life, a dedicated maintenance team will conduct routine, scheduled maintenance. The turbines and substation will be continuously monitored by the project owner, turbine manufacturer, and Nova Scotia Power. Any issues that arise on-site will be dealt with swiftly.
Usually the EA approval will require several years of operational data on bird and bat mortality and/or wetland monitoring, which will likely be completed by the same firm that submitted the EA. They will submit their findings as an independent third-party to Nova Scotia Environment.
Stage 4: Decommissioning
At the end of the project’s long-term PPA, the contract will either be renegotiated or the project will be decommissioned. If the PPA is renegotiated, the turbines will be refurbished if necessary and continue to operate. The Crown land lease will be renegotiated as necessary before that time.