\u00a0largest power generating project<\/a>\u00a0on the island, larger even than the John Hart Dam, which now has a maximum rated capacity of 141 megawatts (MW), according to BC Hydro.\u00a0<\/p>\nAnother wind project, the smaller 99 MW Cape Scott Wind Farm west of Port Hardy, is already in operation in the North Island. While three First Nations in the region have a benefit agreement in place, they don\u2019t have equity or ownership in the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Roberts said those nations were asked for their insights about the renewable project in their territory before the Wei Wai Kai committed to their own wind energy project and were \u201clargely happy\u201d to see them in operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No energy project has \u201czero\u201d impacts, said Roberts \u2014 but he is confident that existing research on wind farms and the suite of environmental and land surveys underway at the Y\u0259\u0313yus site will be able to minimize any harm to wildlife including bats or birds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Up to 275 people will be working at peak construction, which will include jobs that capitalize on traditional skills from the construction, engineering, road building and resource sector, but also offer opportunities for First Nations in the region to learn new skills and develop good jobs tied to the clean technology sector, Roberts said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, the nation has a memorandum of understanding with a company involved in the buildout of a needed transmission line to hook into the BC Hydro grid that could include potential training for Wei Wai Kum community members and other First Nations in the region, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to high-paying, high-skilled construction or linesmen jobs during the build out, there will be operations and maintenance jobs once the wind project is complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were pretty impressed to see the scope of different skills required and the training that\u2019s available,\u201d Roberts said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Environmental studies and on-the-ground surveys will continue this year and a regulatory application to the province will occur in early 2027, said Andrea Kausel, vice president of development for Capstone. Construction may start in 2028 with the project expected to come on line by 2031, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Studies are ongoing to better understand the winds at the site, but they are consistent in the region and advances in wind technology mean the turbines are increasingly able to capture the resource, Kausel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The type of turbine that will be employed hasn\u2019t been determined but now towers can reach upwards of 100 metres, the rotor diameter of the turbine can be 160 meters and a single turbine can generate between six to eight megawatts, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wind energy can be variable, but it pairs well with hydro power to balance fluctuations in the provincial grid, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wind tends to produce more power in fall and winter while hydro power can generate lots of energy during the spring when snow melt occurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project will increase Vancouver Island\u2019s energy supply, which is largely dependent on flows from BC Hydro\u2019s grid on the mainland, Roberts said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the nation\u2019s perspective, for Vancouver Island to be energy self-sufficient is really important,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Economic growth and development opportunities in the North Island are being constrained by supply and bottlenecks BC Hydro\u2019s transmission infrastructure, Roberts added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, proponents approached the nation about setting up a land-based salmon farm in their territory, but BC Hydro was unable to commit to the long-term power needs of the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to powering economic opportunities in the region, the Y\u0259\u0313yus Energy wind project, and BC Hydro\u2019s ongoing calls for renewable energy tied to First Nations ownership, advances the recognition of Indigenous rights, Roberts noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it allows us to take a more meaningful place and role in the economic benefit that\u2019s derived from resources in our territory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wei Wai Kum First Nation is charting a new course as the majority owner of one Vancouver Island\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-399017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}