Armow Wind development to be completed by end of the year

By: Liz Dadson November 24, 2015 1426

Armow Wind development to be completed by end of the year

The 91-turbine Armow Wind development in Kincardine is slated to be up and running by the end of the year.

A tour of the wind farm at the end of September, showed the work under way, including the installation of the turbines and the fibre optic cable, hooking up the electrical wires, completing access roads, and remediation of the land.

The crew has been working on the project since January, and safety advisor Darin Crockford of contractor Black and McDonald, is conscious not only of the safety aspects of the wind farm, but the controversy surrounding it.

The development runs east of Highway 21, from the Northline to just east of Tiverton.

Each turbine stands about 320 feet in the air, with a Met tower that electrically adjusts the turbine. Fibre-optic cable is used for to connect the two.

The safety aspects, monitored by Crockford and his associates, are of paramount importance. Before a crew can enter a tower to begin work, it must complete a pre-job hazard assessment, a rescue plan form and equipment form.

Each worker must have a proper equipment bag, complete with harness and safety gear, and be properly trained to use that equipment before climbing into the turbine tower. Before each climb, the worker must clip the glide lock to the ladder and to his harness to prevent falls.

At one point, there were more than 400 workers on the Armow Wind development site, and Crockford says they are a good crew.

During the tour, workers were trenching and burying the electrical cable and installing the fibre-optic casing. More than 100 kilometres of cable is going into the ground for this project.

At the site of one of the final turbines to be put up, there were two cranes – a large one to pick up the rotor and a smaller one to pick up the other side of the rotor so it didn't dig into the ground.

The large crane first installed the base of the turbine and then the nacelle. The rotor and blades were put together on the ground and then hoisted into the air and connected to the nacelle by a crew inside the turbine.

Meanwhile, north of the 2^nd Concession is the substation that connects the wind farm to the electrical grid. Just west of the substation is the new Armow Wind operations and maintenance building, with offices and storage.

The final rotor was installed Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. Currently, 36 of the turbines have been commissioned.

In addition, the project has committed $13.6-million to the Municipality of Kincardine as part of the Armow Wind project Community Benefit Program. This program includes a $1-million contribution to the Kincardine Airport to improve local operations, and $12.6-million into a Community Benefit Reserve Fund over 20 years which will be administered by the municipality.