Magdalen Islands, September 7, 2021: The project company, Parc éolien de la Dune-du-Nord SEC (PEDDN), officially inaugurated its wind farm in the Magdalen Islands.
In front of some forty people invited for the occasion and in the presence of Jonatan Julien, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Gaspésie-les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region and Éric Filion, Executive Vice-President, Distribution, Procurement and Shared Services, the managers of Dune-du-Nord Wind Farm inaugurated their facilities. This park has been in service since December 29, 2020, but the health measures in effect in recent months have prevented this event from being held earlier.
Invited to speak, the mayor of the Magdalen Islands stressed the importance of this project in the implementation of the Islands’ energy strategy.
“This community-led project marks an important step in the implementation of the Magdalen Islands’ energy strategy and will significantly reduce GHG emissions from the thermal power plant.”
In his speech, Simon Deschênes, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PEDDN and President of the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Intermunicipal Energy Board, mentioned the excellent collaboration between the members of the liaison committee and the municipal authorities.
“The project would not have been possible without the support of the population. The liaison committee made up of community representatives supported the development of the project from the announcement of the call for proposals. Their contribution was significant and made it possible to adapt the project to the specific environmental conditions of Dune-du-Nord. This project is now a reality and it provides significant financial benefits for the community in addition to increasing the revenues from the wind farms in which the Régie holds an interest. In 2020, nearly $700,000 was paid to the maritime community.”
The construction site, which began in September 2019, was completed in December 2020. Commissioning, which was scheduled for last July, was delayed due to the closure of the site at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the receipt of the turbines during a less favorable period for their installation due to the strength of the winds in the Magdalen Islands.
“During construction, we encountered several obstacles. This project is unique in Quebec and this posed many logistical challenges. Whether for the transport of components or the erection of towers, turbines and blades, the obstacles were numerous and we want to thank the companies, organizations and workers who made this project possible” as highlighted by Hugo Bouchard, President of Plan A Capital.
The park has been in service for eight months now and the energy produced is delivered to Hydro-Québec, which distributes it on the network. The park’s production is in line with our expectations, and despite the necessary adjustments related to the running-in phase, revenues are in line with forecasts.
“We have an exceptional wind resource and an extraordinary source of renewable energy, which allows us to achieve the production targets agreed with Hydro-Québec. The location of the wind farm in Dune-du-Nord requires very close environmental monitoring and thanks to the excellent collaboration of the liaison committee we will be able to achieve our environmental preservation objectives,” said Samson Vayssières, of Valeco énergie Québec.
For his part, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonatan Julien spoke to highlight the success of this unique project in Quebec.
“I am proud of the project inaugurated today, which is the result of an initiative by and for the community of the Magdalen Islands. It is part of the vision we have for Quebec’s energy transition and will help reduce the archipelago’s GHG emissions. In addition, the community’s participation will bring royalties to the region, which will be reinvested for the benefit of the population, who will come out the winners. I congratulate all the partners involved in the success of this project!”
Project overview:
After more than a decade of planning and development, the Dune-du-Nord wind farm has been in commercial operation since December 29, 2020. The energy produced is transmitted to the Hydro-Québec grid to power homes, businesses and companies in the Magdalen Islands for the next twenty years. This project, which took several years to complete, is now fully operational and is allowing Hydro-Québec to achieve significant savings on electricity production costs while helping to reduce 17,000 T CO 2 eq. /year, or 15% of the GHG emissions from the Cap-aux-Meules thermal power plant.
The wind farm in figures:
Turbine manufacturer: ENERCON
Model: E-126 EP3
Number of wind turbines: 2
Power per wind turbine: 4 MW
Contractual power: 6.4 MW
Height of the towers: 86 M
Blade length: 61.9 M
Number of houses that can be supplied: 1,800
GHG reduction: 17,000 T/YEAR
Footprint: 1.4 ha
A public/private partnership
The Dune-du-Nord Wind Farm SEC (or “PEDDN”) project company is made up of the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Intermunicipal Energy Board [1] (50%), Plan A Infrastructure (25%) and Valeco énergie Québec (25%).
A profitable project for the Magdalen Islands
The construction work will have generated regional economic spinoffs (Gaspésie-Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine) of $2,950,000, including $2,650,000 for businesses in the Magdalen Islands alone. Sixteen workers, including eight from the Magdalen Islands, were hired to carry out the construction work, generating a payroll of $900,000. For the next few years of operation, the Dune-du-Nord Wind Farm will award several local contracts for the maintenance of the farm and the performance of various works related to current operations.
The Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Intermunicipal Energy Board is a 50% shareholder in Parc éolien de la Dune-du-Nord SEC and as such, the board anticipates revenues of around $350,000/year that will be returned to the member municipalities. In this context, the Magdalen Islands will be able to count on revenues of over $60,000/year in addition to the $700,000/year that the community already receives. In addition, the municipality of the Magdalen Islands will receive royalties of $34,000/year paid by the wind farm and the maritime community, for its part, will receive $55,000/year in payment of land rights on public lands.
[1] The Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine Intermunicipal Energy Board brings together the five MRCs in the region and the Communauté maritime des Îles-de-la-Madeleine. It was set up to invest equally with developers who want to develop wind farms in the Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine regions and elsewhere in Quebec. The Board is a co-owner of 4 wind farms that generate 326.6 MW and generate net revenues estimated at over $3.5 million per year. This revenue is redistributed to the region’s communities to contribute to their development.
