New Richmond

(Français)

The New Richmond Wind Facility project is located in the municipalities of New Richmond, St. Alphonse and Caplan in the RMC of Bonaventure in the Gaspé. The wind facility’s total capacity is 68 MW, generated by 33 Enercon wind turbines. The facility generates enough energy to power about 11,000 average Quebec homes. The project, which cost approximately $205 million and generated over one hundred jobs during development and construction, will provide 5-10 permanent local jobs during operation. Since 2005, the TransAlta team has been working with the local community, and the provincial and federal government to obtain the necessary approvals and bring the project online.

Environmental approvals process

The environmental impact study for the New Richmond Wind Project was submitted to the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks (MDDEP) in March 2009. In 2010, changes were proposed to the project configuration and the height of the Enercon wind turbines, increasing them from 85m to 98m. An impact analysis was conducted by an independent firm, satisfying both TransAlta and the Department of Natural Resources that there is no change in visual impact from the additional 13m in height.

The Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) held hearings for the project in spring 2010, and in winter 2010, submitted their report to the Minister of the MDDEP (www.bape.gouv.qc.ca). The proposed changes to the configuration and the height of the Enercon wind turbines were examined and approved by the MDDEP.

If you have any questions or comments, or for more information on recent activities, please don't hesitate to contact us:

TransAlta New Richmond Wind Facility
308 A Chemin St-Edgard
New Richmond, Québec G0C 2BO                         
Ph: 418-392-4085 (New Richmond office)
Ph: 514-587-2996 (TransAlta's Montreal office)
Ph: 581-886-0813 (in case of emergency, evenings and weekends)
For media inquiries, contact:
Stacey Hatcher
Senior Corporate Relations Advisor
Cell: 587-216-2242
Toll-free media number: 1-855-255-9184
TA_Media_Relations@transalta.com 

Construction Milestones

Project Progress and Timeline

March 2011
With Environmental approvals in place, on March 28, 2011, TransAlta announced plans to expand our wind portfolio in Quebec by moving ahead with construction of the New Richmond wind project.

The Quebec government issued the project decree allowing TransAlta to begin pre-construction work in April 2011. The decree also allowed TransAlta to pursue the necessary certificates of approval from various provincial ministries.

April 2011
In April, tree clearing began at the project site and continued until early May, stopping when the bird nesting period began. Clearing was completed, using as small a footprint as possible.

Road construction and work on foundations were planned for the summer. Turbine components (towers, nacelles and blades) were scheduled to be delivered for early spring 2012.

August 2011
Mindful that the activities relating to construction would result in increased traffic in the area, including the transport of concrete to the project site, TransAlta put in place processes, mitigation plans and communications to minimize traffic disruption as much as possible. 

Cement mixers typically operated from dawn until dusk, Monday to Friday, over three months starting in August. To ensure public safety and minimize inconvenience to local residents, TransAlta and its contractor, Enercon, controlled and monitored the speed of vehicles working on the project, established a dust control program and installed appropriate signage. When TransAlta began transporting concrete, the public was notified through radio announcements and notices delivered to residences and businesses located in the affected areas.

November 2011
Site clearing finished in November 2011, readying the site for turbine construction. Approximately 20km of new roads were built onsite. All thirty-three concrete foundations for the turbines were built. About 450m3 of concrete, which is about 30 concrete mixers, were required for each foundation. This work continued to mid-December 2011, was paused for the winter break, and restarted in the spring, around mid-May.

The team took advantage of the time over the winter months to begin transporting the major components from ENERCON's factory in Matane, to the site.

July 2012
After a short winter break, work resumed on the construction of the wind farm. With the foundation of all 33 turbines completed, work on the electrical substation and collector system was finished, and the wind towers were erected throughout the summer. With the upper sections of the towers (blades and nacelles) on site, everything was ready for the first tests of power in the fall.

Traffic was increased on the roads leading to the site over the summer with the transport of the tower sections.

October/November 2012
Hydro-Quebec completed construction and commissioning of the transmission line in October 2012. In November 2012, the project was connected to the transmission line and the substation was energized. The facility commenced generating test energy in late November 2012, and has continued generating ever since.

December 2012
During the fall/winter construction work, 33 concrete towers were erected, 30 pods were installed and blades were mounted on 20 towers. A transformer for the wind facility was installed. Despite mechanical problems with the cranes and bad weather conditions, 15 of the 33 wind turbines were producing energy to the Hydro-Québec grid.

More information

Email: quebec@transalta.com
Tel: 514-587-2996 or toll-free 1-877-687-1409