The winds of change are a blowin’

EarthFirst launched their much-anticipated Dokie Wind Project by unveiling BC’s first operating commercial wind turbine, a three-megawatt Vestas V90 northwest of Chetwynd.  It’s the first of seven for 2008, which will start pumping precious power into BC’s grid in the spring.  41 more will be built next year.  How much difference will that make?  A single turbine can satisfy the electricity needs of approximately 700 homes.  At the end of 2009, the Dokie project will generate an impressive 144 megawatts, or enough for 33,000 homes.  

Is that significant?  It’s more like a good start.  Assuming three people live in the average home (a fairly safe ballpark guess) that’s almost 100,000 people.  But there are some 4.3 million people in British Columbia alone.  

Wind power has come a long way in Canada.  It now generates enough to power 560,000 homes, or one small city.  It’s equally true that wind power has a long way to go.  As much progress Canada has made, we’re still far behind leaders like Germany and Spain.  

Luckily, reinforcements are on the way. EarthFirst has other projects in the works for Ontario, Newfoundland, Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC, including the Dokie expansion.  What’s the potential for all this?  Take Denmark as an example. It derives 20 per cent of its electricity from the wind.  Were Canada to match Denmark in wind power, it would be enough to power 17 million homes.  

It seems the winds of change are blowing in Canada, from coast to coast.