Another turbine setback for Katabatic

The prospect of wind turbines on Mount Hays will be delayed at least a year after Katabatic Power revised their construction schedule, based apparently on the availability of turbines.

The Northern View is reporting on its website today that the construction phase of the project is now set for April or may of 2009 with plans to have the wind farm operation on line by the fall of next year.

Finding a supplier of turbines seems to have been a long running problem for the would be energy provider as it was back in August of 2007 that Katabatic first announced that they had ended an agreement to purchase the required turbines from AAER Incorporated.

Now almost one year later, they still seem to be having problems securing a reliable supplier of the key ingredient to harnessing the winds of Mount Hays…

Mount Hays wind farm pushed back a year
By Shaun Thomas - The Northern View - June 03, 2008
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Black Press

Activity on Mount Hays this summer will be quieter than initially thought as Katabatic Power, the proponents of the Prince Rupert's Mount Hays Wind Farm, have had to push the time line of the project back significantly.

“Things on the project are going OK. We had to amend our agreement with B.C. Hydro to put the wind farm into service in 2009 and not in 2008 as we first thought. The challenge was in securing turbines for 2008, and we are working on a deal to get the turbines delivered for 2009,” said Katabatic Power’s Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Raymond.

With the delay in securing the turbines, the construction time line has been pushed back by a year. Construction on the wind farm, which is to include 18 turbines capable of producing 1.5 MegaWatts of power on Mount Hays to produce 27 MegaWatts of power, is set to start in April or May of next year with the facility beginning operations in October.

“We might get to some road upgrades or geotechnical work this summer, but the bulk of construction on the project will take place in 2009,” said Raymond, noting that approximately 25 to 30 people would be employed during the construction phase.

Look for more on this story in the June 4 issue of The Northern View.