Castle River

With 60 turbines, the Castle River facility has a total capacity of 44 megawatts. Seven additional turbines producing 3.78 megawatts are located nearby. This facility started with a single turbine that began operation in November 1997. Subsequent units were installed between June 2000 and July 2001. Castle River wind farm is wholly owned by TransAlta.

The Green Energy® produced at Castle River is used to supply customers who are committed to making a difference through their electricity purchase. This includes Calgary Transit's C-Train, which uses our Ride the WindTM program, and ENMAX Energy's Greenmax program which allows electricity customers in Alberta to support wind energy.

The 60 turbines annually produce 125,000 megawatt hours of electricity, which is enough to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 87,500 tonnes.

At a Glance

• Location: Near Pincher Creek, Alberta, southwest of Pincher Creek airport
• Technology: 1 Vestas V44 turbine (600 kW, 40 m tower); 59 Vestas V47 turbines (660 kW, 50 m tower)

Turbine Facts

• The 50 m tower is made up of rolled steel and comes in two pieces, weighing 24,000 kg
• Each blade is 23 m long; the rotor is 8,500 kg and is made up of three blades
• The nacelle containing the generator and gearbox is about the size of a small motor home and weighs 20,000 kg
• The foundation is 8.5 m deep and 5 m across. 102 tension type bolts run the full length of the foundation

Note: TransAlta gratefully acknowledges Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) for its support for this project through the eco Energy for Renewable Power (eERP) program.