With all 10 massive Senvion turbines turning, the Okanagan Wind project is now officially operational at both the Pennask Plateau and Shinish Creek locations.

The twin projects at Pennask and Shinish are the first wind power installations in the Okanagan region, and the 30 megawatts of power produced by the turbines represents about 6 per cent of all the power produced through wind in the province.

Towering 100 metres above the Pennask Plateau, many of the turbines are visible to travellers heading over Okanagan Connector (97C) from Merritt to Kelowna.

More turbines are located at the Shinish Creek site, located about 30 kilometres west of Summerland off of the Princeton-Summerland road.

The wind power project required the co-operation of the Westbank First Nation, the Upper Nicola Band and the Penticton Indian Band, as the projects were completed on the traditional territory of a number of bands in the area.

“This council and this community spent time and effort to make this project right. Our relationship to the land and our responsibility to protect it meant that a relationship with the company was of the utmost importance,” said Upper Nicola Chief Harvey McLeod in a press release from Okanagan Wind. “The Pennask project changed our landscape but we ensured that what was developed is good for the overall environment.”

While the project involved some road building, the sites took advantage of existing logging roads to minimize the impact of the development on the Crown lands, explained Gordon Muir, operations manager for Okanagan Wind. The tight turns and narrow roads — especially on the Pennask Plateau, made transporting the giant rotors of the turbines a bit of a challenge, he said.

“These are among the largest turbines in Canada. The rotor diameter is about 114 metres, so there’s not too many wind turbines in Canada that have a much bigger rotor diameter,” said Muir. “The transportation of components from a Washington port was one of the more challenging aspects.”

At the Shinish site, nine corners had to be modified so that the trucks transporting the blades could navigate the roads. In order to make the turns, the transport trucks are equipped with a steerable trailer with wheels that can turn independently of those located on the front of the truck, explained Muir.

The facilities have entered into an energy purchasing agreement (EPA) with BC Hydro which spans 40 years. The EPA is the mechanism through which Okanagan Wind can sell the power generated by the wind turbines back to BC Hydro at a rate pre-approved by both parties, said Muir.