Grand opening held for Bekevar Yôtin Wind Project
November 26, 2024, 11:07 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Members of the Cowessess First Nation, project developers, dignitaries, and landowners were on-hand at the Bekevar Substation southeast of Kipling on November 14 for the grand opening of the Bekevar Yôtin wind farm.
“Thank you all for joining us to celebrate the completion of Bekevar Yôtin,” began Rebecca Âcikahtê, Business Development Manager of Renewables for Cowessess Ventures. “It was a big accomplishment with many people involved for many years.”
Cowessess owns 17 per cent of the $380 million project, the largest Indigenous renewable-owned project in Saskatchewan. Around 20,000 acres of land stretching across the RMs of Kingsley and Hazelwood, plus 500 acres on the Cowessess First Nation, are home to 36 turbines.
“The 205 MW project is comprised of 36 Nordex turbines, and they’ll aid in powering up to 100,000 homes in Saskatchewan,” Âcikahtê explained. “This contributes to the province’s strategy to expand green energy sources with a goal of 50 per cent renewables in 2030.”
The wind project has a 25-year power purchase agreement with SaskPower to sell the electricity it generates—not only signifying a major step forward in renewable energy for the province, but also setting a precedent for Indigenous leadership in sustainable development.
“To me personally, Bekevar represents a significant step for energy sovereignty, economic development and environmental stewardship, for both Cowessess First Nation and our partner owner Innagreen Investments, as well as many of the landowners and people who live nearby,” Âcikahtê said.
The event began with Elders and Knowledge Keepers offering tobacco and sharing in prayer, then key contributors to the project were also invited to share in the pipe ceremony. Bridging into the formal agenda portion of the program, Mike Dejarlais sang a few honour songs, joined by Cowessess Senior Warrior Kestin Delorme and Senior Princess, Mimikwas Âcikahtê.
Appearing on behalf of Chief Erica Beaudin was Councillor Curtis Delorme for Cowessess First Nation. He spoke of the accumulation of hard work, collaboration and vision, recognizing the significant impact this project will have on the community and beyond.
“The Bekevar project represents a critical step towards energy sovereignty for Cowessess First Nation,” he said. “With a 17 per cent ownership stake, Cowessess plays a meaningful role in managing and benefiting from the project’s 200 MW of clean energy products. This initiative aligns with our values and our commitment to preserve the land for future generations, integrated traditional stewardship and modern technologies to create sustainable energy. In doing so, we contribute to the broader goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a responsibility to share with communities across Canada.”
Delorme also touched on the lasting benefits to the Cowessess First Nation, describing how it has provided local jobs support, skills development, and revenue streams, in turn strengthening the community’s financial resilience.
“The wind project has created an infrastructure for long-term economic sustainability and energy economy serving as a powerful example for Indigenous communities across Canada,” he said. “As partners in the Bekevar Yôtin Wind Project, we affirm our commitment to environmental responsibility and growth where economic empowerment does not come at the expense of our lands and resources.
“Moreover, this project exemplifies what we can achieve through collaboration,” Delorme continued. “Our partnership with Innagreen Investments and our support from Saskatchewan Renewable Energy Initiatives will have shown the power of working together towards a common goal.”
Delorme explained how by blending traditional knowledge and advanced technology, a pathway for inclusive sustainable development is demonstrated.
“The Bekevar Yôtin Project is more than a source of energy, it is a beacon of progress and resilience and unity,” he said. “As we look forward, we carry with us the pride of knowing we are a part of the transition to clean energy and that we have paved the way for future generations to thrive. Cowessess First Nation is committed to continuing this journey to strengthen our community and to foster partnerships that align with our values and visions and for the future.”
Morrison & Co. executive director Will McIndoe pointed out how significant the Bekevar Yôtin project is for the New Zealand-based infrastructure asset manager.
“This Bekevar project is a significant milestone for us, representing our second project in Canada, and further expands our global operating renewables portfolio, which now stands at over 4,500 megawatts across our various platforms around the world,” he said. “It’s fantastic to have a project like this.”
Morrison & Co. is Innagreen Investments’ majority investor, and McIndoe stressed the importance of strong ties when working on such a dynamic project.
“At the core of what we do is really around partnerships,” he said. “Our long-term success has really been driven on the back of partnerships. The ability to be able to deliver what is the largest project here in the province is no easy feat.”
As with any project, McIndoe acknowledged there were speed bumps along the way, with some challenges providing a somewhat ironic twist.
“Luckily for us, one of those changes has been high winds throughout construction, and let’s hope that continues now during the operation phase, and we can all see the benefits of that as we move forward,” he said.
“The complexity in the scale of a project like this, and the ability to deliver it successfully today is really a testament to the strong relationships we’ve been able to establish across the project, and importantly, the sort of high caliber of things on the ground to deliver a project like this.”
Sashen Guneratna, Managing Director of Investments with the Canada Infrastructure Bank was also on hand. The federal Crown also placed significant dollars into the wind project when in March of 2023, the CIB invested $173 million into Bekevar Yôtin.
“On a project like this—which I’m proud to say is our first investment in a renewal project—we’re looking to achieve a number of key important outcomes,” Guneratna said. “First and foremost, it’s to partner with communities, so that communities have the opportunity to own equity in these projects and to have a stream of income to benefit their community. And also, it’s to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this country. So by investing in more renewable projects, we’re enabling provinces and territories to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.”
He went on to describe how attitudes toward funding such projects have changed, giving communities a much larger say.
“Very early in my career, I was working on a project in another province, and one of the elders took me aside and said, ‘look Sashen, you know what we as a community want to achieve is ownership of these projects’,” he explained. “We are no longer interested in just having the low value jobs. We want ownership so that we can benefit from the economics that are generated by projects. And that also gives us a say in how the projects get built, because we really care about the land, the air and the water, and we also want that ownership to translate into more of the value added jobs, so that we can own this project, generate income and also leave something for our children and grandchildren that we have made some sacrifices and given them ownership of assets that will benefit them.”
Over the past few years, the CIB has invested $13 billion in almost 75 projects across the country.
“Looking at the example of Bekevar, we’re really proud to say we are investing in many more renewable projects across the country, and I’m really proud to say that all of them feature Indigenous partners and indigenous owners,” Guneratna said, calling Bekevar the example of how to partner and effectively invest equity.
“Without projects like this, the path to a net zero and renewable future is not very bright,” he continued. “But luckily, there’s lots of activity and great examples like this one that we can all rely on as we move forward to hitting 2030 targets.”
Province in midst of energy transition
SaskPower has a plan to increase wind and solar over the next decade.
“Right now, SaskPower is in the midst of an energy transition, one that’s happened across the globe, with a shift toward low carbon and renewable energy production,” said Troy King, Executive Vice-President, Chief Strategy, Technology and Financial Officer with SaskPower. “This transition requires fast power to evolve into a different kind of power company. Right now, we’ve committed to becoming a net zero greenhouse gas emission power system by 2050 and it goes without saying to reach that goal, you’re going to need investments in renewables by solar and wind to achieve this.”
Right now, wind makes up just over 600 MW of the province’s power mix, with combined wind and solar seeing a targeted increase to 3,000 MW by 2035.
“So to put that in perspective, this morning, we were at about 2,700 MW for our entire day, 3,000 is about our average,” King said. “Once we get to that point, there will be points in time that we can have 100 per cent renewable power in our system.”
There are currently about 1,000 MW of additional wind and solar generation projects in various stages of development throughout the province.
“Work is underway right now on the 100 MW Iyuhána Solar Energy Facility near Estevan and in coming months, we expect to announce the successful proponents that will develop an additional 400 MW of wind generation and 200 MW of solar generation in the south central region of Saskatchewan to be operational by 2028,” King said.
“We’re also working with First Nations Power Authority to find a proponent to develop, own, and operate another 100 MW of solar again in the south central region of the province, and a further 200 MW of wind generation is likely to be developed by Enbridge and partners the Seven Stars Energy Project.”
Beginning last year, SaskPower committed to spend $1 billion with Indigenous suppliers over the next decade. Last year, Indigenous procurement made up 10.8 per cent of all SaskPower’s Saskatchewan-based procurement, which equates to nearly $95 billion. For all future and current wind and solar competitions, there’s a requirement that proposals must have at least 10 per cent Indigenous ownership.
There was one ‘full circle’ moment King shared, a recent fact he learned about the concrete foundations at the Bekevar Yôtin project.
“I just discovered this morning, I read the concrete foundations used at this facility for the 36 turbines include SaskPower fly ash sourced from our Boundary Dam power station—that’s more than 3,100 tons of fly ash, to be exact,” he said.
Another curious discovery was noted at the nearby Kennedy Switching Station, where a SaskPower line built in February is connected. While impossible to tell for certain where electricity goes once collected from the spinning turbines, one source postulated that it is supplying energy to the potash facilities in Esterhazy
From the ground up
Wind turbines are big. Those foundations King mentioned include between 600 and 800 cubic metres of concrete poured at the base of each turbine. Also in those bases are around 200,000 pounds of rebar, which is upwards of two inches thick in diameter. The turbines themselves —including base—weigh in at 600,000 kg.
What do the experts say the main ingredient is in constructing such massive creations?
“They say that if it takes a village to raise a child, what does it take to build a wind farm?” was the question Peter Clibbon, Senior Vice President Development with Renewable Energy Systems posed. “It takes an incredible local and global group of committed and passionate people cooperating and working in good faith with each other. If you think about it, the entire world came here—experts from around the province, the country and the planet, bringing their experience, expertise and technology to Saskatchewan.”
For RES, Bekevar Yôtin has been a very successful project, according to Clibbon.
“We’ve had a fantastic team, partners, subcontractors,” he said. “We’ve seen collaboration on the construction site every step of the way, and we’ve completed the project safely. As we heard, the weather was a challenge, but we’re proud of how the team navigated these with great courage and patience.”
RES is the original developer of the project, starting back in 2017 by initially engaging with Cowessess First Nation in the lead up to the eventual SaskPower competitive tender.
“I’ve worked in renewable energy for about 20 years,” Clibbon said. “It’s a long time, and this is exactly why I got into this sector. I got into the sector, and many people got into the sector, to affect some kind of social change and to develop a power generation system that’s less dependent on carbon, the burning of fossil fuels, and in this year, which is literally the hottest year that’s ever been recorded in humanity, the introduction of a 200 MW wind farm is particularly meaningful and we are very proud to be associated with it.”
He also reflected on how relationships and attitudes have improved over the years, describing how relationships particularly with First Nations communities have evolved.
“When we began development back maybe 16, 17 years ago, consultation was a small ‘c’, and it was an obligation, and seen as a formality,” he said. “Things have changed, and for the better. Now we have involvement of First Nations actively in the design of projects and the ownership of projects. I can proudly say that there isn’t a project that RES is involved in right now that doesn’t have a First Nation either as an equity partner or as a main consultee, or as potentially the long-term owner and operator of the project.”
36 powerful turbines
At first glance, blades on a turbine seem to lazily lumber along, almost at a reluctant rate. In fact, the maximum speed of those big blades is about 10.5 RPM. However, due to the length of the blade tips, those blades are actually cruising along at more than 300 km/hr.
Of course, windspeed is a major factor in operation, and turbines operate when the gusts are blowing between 10 and 90 km/hr. Anything more or less, and they shut themselves off.
John McComas Rodriguez knows a lot about turbines. He’s the North American COO with Nordex USA, excited and humbled by the official grand opening at Bekevar Yôtin.
“Today, we’re standing in the midst of 36 powerful N-155 turbines, and these are meant to navigate the challenges in fact, that we’ll experience in the harsh Canadian wind and they represent a brighter future for us all,” he said. “This wind farm is not just a symbol of clean energy, it’s a testament to the strength and dedication of every person that contributed to its creation. It’s a testament, as we heard earlier today, to our relationships with the completion of the state of the art turbine designed to operate efficiently. We are setting a new standard for clean energy generation in this region, and in fact, all of Canada.”
McComas Rodriguez also underlined the value in working together, and how the values of his company align in that regard.
“At Nordex, we’re deeply committed to the electrical transformation of Canada,” he said. “The transformation, however, is about more than just energy. It’s about creating new opportunities benefiting local communities and building a sustainable future for generations to come. With each project, we’re reminded that every step forward we take in renewable energy is a step towards a more resilient and prosperous candidate. As we look ahead, we hope that this project will only provide renewable energy, not only to inspire future developments, foster even greater collaboration, and of course, be a model for future partnerships. In closing, thanks to each and every one of you, your hard work, your trust, your vision and for including Nordex as a dedicated long term partner.” Tweet
