Ottawa Business Journal

Gatineau-based Brookfield Power has completed both phases of what is now the largest wind farm in Canada.

The power generator, which is an arm of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., today announced the completion of its Prince Wind Energy Project, located northwest of Sault Ste. Marie. The project is made up of 126 wind turbines spanning a space of nearly 20,000 acres.

The wind farm will have a total installed capacity of 189 megawatts, and produce enough clean, renewable energy to power 40,000 homes per year.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan commended the project, saying it will help make Ontario the leading producer of wind power in Canada.

"The completion of our first wind development represents a major achievement for Brookfield Power - increasing our total capacity to almost 3,800 megawatts and expanding our renewable power portfolio in Ontario to almost 1,200 megawatts," said Brookfield Power chief executive Harry Goldgut in a statement. "In a little over a year we have constructed Canada's largest wind farm. It's a tribute to the members of the local communities, our employees and construction partners and everyone else who supported this development, including all levels of government."

Construction of the wind farm began in September of last year, with the first 99 megawatts of the project commissioned on Sept. 21 this year and the second 90-megawatt phase commissioned on Nov. 19, 2006. Both phases were awarded 20-year power supply agreements by the provincial government.

Brookfield Power has developed and operated hydroelectric power facilities for almost a century. The company has the capacity to produce 3,800 megawatts of power with its 138 hydroelectric power generating stations, one wind farm, two thermal plants and one pumped storage facility located on 49 river systems.