How SaskPower turns wind into power at Centennial wind farm

You see only one or two at first, dotted on the horizon. Only after several kilometres of hills and dips do they spring up en masse silhouetted against a perfect prairie sky.
 
Wind turbines, 83 of them to be exact, make up the Centennial wind farm in southwest Saskatchewan.
 
South of the Trans-Canada Highway between Rush Lake and Waldeck, Centennial is one of five wind farms SaskPower hopes will go a long way to meeting its green needs.
 
The Crown utility relies heavily on coal-powered generation, which will cost money when federal carbon pricing is introduced.
 
SaskPower has set the lofty goal of 30 per cent wind generation by 2030. But there is a long way to go.
 
Currently there is the capacity to generate five per cent of electricity by wind. In 2015, only three per cent was achieved.
 
That’s because wind power isn’t as simple as the wind blows and power comes out.
 
The wind must reach a speed of 15 kilometres per hour before the blades spin enough to generate power. The best speed is around 35 to 50 km/h; at 90 km/h, the blades automatically shut off.
 
The wind must also hit the giant blades at just the right angle in order for that power to generate.
 
Ensuring it all runs smoothly is operations manager Darrell Crooks.
 
Standing under one the giant windmills, he explains the technology is improving to make wind power a more viable option.
 
“Each turbine now is capable of generating more megawatts (MW) per turbine so you need fewer structures to generate the same amount of electricity, ” Crooks explained. “These generate 1.8 MW each. Some are 2.3 MW and some are 3 MW. Some of the offshore ones are reaching 5 or 6 MW and higher.”
 
Underneath one, it is not hard to see why. Just under three quarter of a kilometres tall, on top of each tower is a small box structure, similar in size to a school bus. Inside is the generator linked to a gearbox, connected to the three giant blades attached outside.
 
Workers must manually climb 220 steps of a traditional rung ladder, bolted to the tower by powerful magnets. A pulley system is used to haul up their equipment bags.
 
It isn’t work for the faint of heart.
 
“They don’t look that big from the ground but once you get up there, you realize how massive they really are, ” Crooks contends.
 
Crooks is six foot two and can stand up in the nose cone on which the blades go around.
 
Centennial was commissioned in 2006 and can generate 150 MW. SaskPower is looking to increase its wind capacity.
 
It plans to commission three new wind projects of 100 MW by 2024. And the private sector is getting involved with three projects underway.
 
Despite many believing that wind power is the answer to climate change, it comes with one major disadvantage; Right now there is no way to store the electricity from wind. It is used as it is generated.
 
“I don’t think the technology is quite there yet so we can rely in wind solely. It is just not feasible at this time,” Crooks explained.
 
The best spot to see the Centennial wind farm is at the designated point of interest off grid road 628 near the northern tip of the facility.