Sophie Brochu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gaz Métro, and Patrick Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boralex, officially marked the start of construction of the Seigneurie de Beaupré Wind Farm.
Sophie Brochu, President and CEO of Énergir, and Patrick Lemaire, President and CEO of Boralex Inc., officially marked the start of construction on the first phase of the Seigneurie de Beaupré project (wind farms 2 and 3), which will have an installed capacity of 272 MW.
"The commencement of the work at the Seigneurie de Beaupré site is the result of the outstanding efforts of the people at two Quebec companies, Boralex and Énergir," said Mr. Lemaire. "After six years spent designing and developing this project, we are proud to officially mark the start of construction at the Seigneurie site."
Ms. Brochu noted that "implementation of the Seigneurie project stems from exceptional collaboration between the Seminaire de Québec — which owns the land — and community and the Boralex/Énergir-Valener consortium. We believe that our development model shows it is possible to develop energy projects that will contribute to the advancement of Quebec, while having positive impacts in the regions where they are built."
The site will become the largest construction site in the Quebec City area. Work will continue into 2013, creating about 200 direct jobs in 2011 and 500 in 2012 and 2013.
More than $700 million will be invested in the first phase, with at least 60% of that amount being spent in Quebec.
Located on the private lands of the Seminaire de Québec, the first Seigneurie de Beaupré wind farm will consist of 126 turbines. The installed capacity will supply the annual electricity consumption of more than 50,000 households.
Most of the access roads will be built this year, along with 43 of the 126 wind-turbine foundations. The work will continue in 2012, as follows:
Completion of the access roads and foundations
Raising 91 towers, with heights ranging from 63 to 98 metres
Finishing 70% of the underground work to install the gathering systems
Building the electrical substation to connect to the Hydro-Québec grid
In the third year of construction the towers will be completed and the nacelles and blades installed. Commissioning is scheduled for December 2013.
When completed, the total installed capacity of the Seigneurie de Beaupré wind farms will be 366 MW. The first phase of 272 MW will start up in late 2013; the second phase (wind farm 4) with 69 MW, will start operating in late 2014. Both are projects of the Boralex/Énergir-Valener consortium. In addition, the 25 MW Côte-de-Beaupré wind farm built by Boralex in partnership with the Côte-de-Beaupré RCM will start up in 2015.