Cowessess project aims to make wind power the future

A new wind power project just east of Regina is drawing a lot of attention. A turbine on the Number One and Highway #33 was put up several weeks ago and Tuesday it was powered up.  It will start generating green power by Wednesday afternoon.

The turbine is part of a $5 million research project funded by Cowessess First Nation, the Saskatchewan Research Council and government partners, one of a kind in North America – to look at power storage in lithium-ion batteries.  As Chief Grady Lerat notes, the Saskatchewan wind is a great source of energy, but wind turbines would make a better power source, if the energy could be stored.

The point of this research project is to determine what kind of battery to use, how big of a battery is needed, and whether it is economically feasible.

“First Nations are always looking at ways of helping Mother Earth,” said Lerat. “In order to make it more affordable, and substantial – the wind really doesn’t blow at night, you want to have some way of smoothing it out and having that energy available all the time.”

Without the ability to store wind power, it is difficult to use it to produce a significant amount of energy.

“It’s the type of resource that’s only available when the wind blows, so it’s what we call unreliable,” said Brian Mohr, manager of sustainable supply development for SaskPower.

Cowessess also wants to see the project go further with a potential future wind farm.  The research being done could make that easier across the province if it answers the question of cost effectiveness.

“What are the overall economics of that and how can that help us deploy more wind power?” said Mohr.

By 2017, SaskPower will produce 9 percent of its power from wind.