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Six of the 17 Vestas V47 660 kW wind turbines planned for Saskatchewan's first wind farm have been commissioned. Construction of the 11 MW Sunbridge project, a C$20 million partnership between Suncor Energy and Enbridge Inc, began this summer. "We're very pleased with the progress we've made to date, although I do know they've put in a lot of extra effort to get to this point," says Suncor's Bruce Debaie.

The six turbines will not be supplying power to the grid until SaskPower builds a substation, scheduled for completion by the end of October. Once the substation is ready, says Debaie, construction of the remaining 11 turbines will begin in earnest. "I believe what we're hoping is to have the majority of them done before winter sets in." The project schedule calls for full commissioning of all 17 turbines by next June. "There may be a possibility that we beat that target," says Debaie.

The Sunbridge plant is the first wind project for the partners, who are heavily involved in Canada's petroleum sector. Suncor Energy is one of the country's largest oil producers and Enbridge Inc operates the world's longest crude oil pipeline system and Canada's largest natural gas distribution company. Meanwhile, SaskPower is evaluating bids for the supply and installation of turbines for its own 5.3 MW wind project. Construction will start next spring, and the plant is scheduled to be operational by August 2002.