50 megawatt Otter Creek wind project to be built in Southwestern Ont.

Chatham-Kent Municipality in Southwestern Ont. already houses one of the largest wind projects in Canada. PHOTO Harvey McDaniel, via Wikimedia Commons

MONTREAL—Ontario’s Chatham-Kent municipality is getting another wind farm.

Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc. and its partner Boralex Inc. have announced the province’s grid operator, the Independent Electricity System Operator, has awarded the companies’ Otter Creek Wind Farm project a 50 megawatt contract under the its Large Renewable Procurement program. The project will be built on private lands near the town of Wallaceburg, Ont., though details about the number of turbines and cost of construction have not yet been released.

RES is the lead developer of the site, holding a 51 per cent stake in the project. Boralex owns a 38.5 per cent share, while the Walpole Island First Nation owns the final 10.5 per cent. Once the project reaches commercial operation, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent also has a contract option to participate in the project.

“We look forward to working together with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and the Walpole Island First Nation to bring the next generation of renewable energy to the area,” said Peter Clibbon, senior vice-president of Development at RES Canada and Patrick Lemaire, president and CEO of Boralex, in a joint statement. “We are committed to helping Ontario meet its clean energy goals.”

A hotbed for wind development Chatham-Kent also houses one of the largest farms in the Canada. The 270 MW South Kent Wind project began operations in 2014; Otter Creek is slated to be built to the northwest of that project, but still needs to earn several environmental permits and approvals before construction can begin.

If all goes well for the developers, the new wind project is expected to reach commercial operation by the end of 2019.

The project is one of 16 contracts handed down by Ontario’s IESO for 455 MW of new power projects.