Two Okanagan wind farms get green light

OKANAGAN – The first wind farms ever built in the Okanagan will be producing electricity by 2016.

Agreements between B.C. Hydro and Zero Emission Energy Development have been inked for wind farms west of Summerland and west of Kelowna, according to a media release from the B.C. Liberal caucus. The White Rock-based company will be building a third in northeastern B.C. near Taylor as part of the deal.

Once they are up and running, each wind farm will produce about 15 megawatts of electricty, which is enough to power about 2,500 homes.

“B.C. has enormous wind power potential and it’s good to see that developed in the Okanagan,” Premier Christy Clark says in a media release.

Construction on the Pennask Wind Power Project, about 40 kilometres west of Kelowna, and the Summerland Project, about 33 km west of the town, are scheduled to start later this spring or early this summer and will take about 18 months to build, according to Zero Emmission's website. Each wind farm will last for about 25 years and create between five to 10 full-time and part-time jobs to operate and maintain the turbines.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.