Earlier this month, Capstone Infrastructure Corporation and SaskPower announced the successfully Commissioned Riverhurst Wind Farm. 

SaskPower Spokesperson Joel Cherry said that the facility, located northeast of Swift Current, is the first of four wind projects that are due to come online in the coming months. 

“In total, we're going to add 575 megawatts of wind power to our grid,” he said. 

Cherry added that the project in Riverhurst is the smallest of the four projects, with three wind turbines residing beside the Diefenbaker Lake generating 10 megawatts of renewable energy. 

“That's enough to generate enough zero-emission power for about 5000 homes, so it is significant,” he said. “This is part of a broader effort we're making. Like I said, to add more renewables to the grid, we're on track to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% from 2005 levels by 2030. 

“Which is ahead of the pace that we've set for ourselves a couple of years ago, and one way that we're going to do that is by adding projects like this to the grid.” 

He added that they also have their first bioenergy facility coming online in the not-too-distant future. 

The wind project, overlooking the Diefenbaker Lake, was commissioned by Capstone Infrastructure, an independent power producer based in Ontario. 

The company in Ontario, owns and operates the facility, while SaskPower has signed a 20-year contract with Capstone Infrastructure to purchase all the powers that are produced. 

Cherry notes that this has been the case for the majority of SaskPower’s recent renewable projects. 

Other wind facilities coming online in the near future include two others in southern Saskatchewan, Golden South and Blue Hills. 

Cherry said that it is great to see developers help the push towards reducing their emissions. 

“We've committed to reducing our carbon emissions pretty dramatically over the coming decade and beyond, and having these projects come online is a very important way for us to get there,” he stated.