RENEWABLES Bear Mountain 896px

RENEWABLES Bear Mountain2 896px

Bear Mountain Wind Park


The Bear Mountain Wind Park near Dawson Creek, British Columbia, owned by the Company through Bear Mountain Wind Limited Partnership (BMWLP), is a 102 MW generating wind facility consisting of 34 turbines, a substation and transmission and collector lines, which are connected to the BC Hydro transmission grid.

The Bear Mountain Wind Park is British Columbia’s first fully-operational wind park, delivering enough electricity to power most of British Columbia’s South Peace region.

 


 

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Enercon Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of the turbine manufacturer, Enercon GmbH, provides operating and maintenance services to BMWLP under a service agreement that expires in December 2026 on a fixed fee basis (but with caps on the unscheduled maintenance services that are included), escalating with reference to specified pricing indices. Enercon Canada Inc. provides various warranties in respect of the turbines, including with respect to minimum levels of availability. Each of the 3 MW Enercon E-82 wind turbine generators supplied to the Bear Mountain Wind Park has a 78 metre hub height and a 82 metre rotor diameter.

The Bear Mountain Wind Park was commissioned and fully connected to the British Columbia power grid in 2009. All of the power from the Bear Mountain Wind Park is sold to BC Hydro under a 25-year PPA expiring in 2034 with escalation factors of 50% of CPI. The facility is an EcoLogo certified facility and generates RECs. BMWLP has retained the green attributes and RECs and sells them, and intends to continue to sell them, to provide an additional revenue stream.

The Bear Mountain Wind Park covers approximately 25 hectares and, as the turbines require limited surface land space, the facility continues to be used for cattle grazing and by the public for hiking, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and other recreational activities.

 


 

The Northwest Hydro Facilities

The Northwest Hydro Facilities, located in Tahltan First Nation territory approximately 1,000 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia, are comprised of the Forrest Kerr Hydroelectric Facility, the McLymont Creek Hydroelectric Facility, the Volcano Creek Hydroelectric Facility and all associated transmission and related facilities. The Forrest Kerr Hydroelectric Facility is an approximately 214 MW run-of-river hydroelectric generating facility located on the Iskut River near its confluence with Forrest Kerr Creek that redirects a portion of the flow of the Iskut River through a tunnel to an underground powerhouse that houses nine Francis turbines to generate electricity. It achieved Commercial Operations Date (COD) in October 2014.

The McLymont Creek Hydroelectric Facility is an approximately 72 MW run-of-river hydroelectric generating facility located on McLymont Creek near its confluence with the Iskut River the intake of which directs the water into a power tunnel where three Francis turbines generate electricity. It achieved COD in October 2015. The Volcano Creek Hydroelectric Facility is an approximately 17 MW run-of-river hydroelectric generating facility that diverts a portion of the flow from Volcano Creek through a penstock (water pipeline) to move the water to a surface powerhouse where two Pelton turbines generate electricity. It achieved COD in December 2014.

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The Northwest Hydro Facilities, with a combined generating capacity of approximately 303 MW, are contracted under three separate 60-year PPAs with BC Hydro that are fully indexed to BC CPI, meaning there is no direct commodity risk on contracted power. Each PPA expires 60 years from the facility’s respective date of COD.