A representative of Port Hawkesbury Paper and sister organization Port Hawkesbury Paper Wind says preliminary construction on the Goose Harbour Lake wind farm is underway.
Geoff Clarke, director of sustainability and economic development at Port Hawkesbury Paper and lead for the community liaison committee for the wind farm, said the project was announced in 2019, with the Port Hawkesbury Paper Wind LP being created in 2021.
The Goose Harbour Lake wind farm, located in Guysborough county on crown lands licensed to PHP for sustainable forest management, has been approved by the Department of Environment and Climate Change for up to 31 wind turbines. Phase 1 will consist of 24 turbines, with a nameplate capacity of 168 megawatts, with Clarke noting they anticipate a maximum actual 130.5 megawatts will be available to the grid. The project will have the capacity equivalent for more than 60 per cent of the PHP’s electrical power demand.
Clarke said they broke ground on the Guysborough property two weeks ago. Going ahead, they will continue with some civil work, with work on the switching station and transmission lines starting in the first or second quarter of next year. Work on roads, the turbine foundations, substation and maintenance buildings will continue next summer and spring.
Clarke called it a very important project for the sustained operations of the PHP facility, and will help green the provincial grid.
Clarke also noted PHP Wind is developing an Indigenous equity partnership for the wind farm with WMA, an economic development partnership owned by 13 Mi’kmaq First Nations communities across Nova Scotia.
