On a recent geocaching trip we drove through what turns out to be Canada’s most productive Wind Farm.  It is an amazing sight to see all those windmills that essentially stretch across the horizon.   I was very pleased to see wind energy generation on this scale.   

Canadian Hydro Developers are operational on phase I and  phase II of the Melancthon EcoPower Centre, located near Shelburne, Ontario. With the completion of phase II, the project now generates 199.5 MW of wind power, making it the largest wind farm in Canada, accounting for more than 10% of the country’s entire wind energy capacity of 1,876 MW. But while this is a landmark development for Canadian wind energy, wind only provides for 0.8 percent of Canada’s total electricity demand, largely because of the country’s vast hydropower resources.

Construction of the Melancthon EcoPower Centre began with the 67.5 MW phase I in the spring of 2005 and achieved commercial operation in March 2006. Construction of the 132 MW Phase II of the project began in the autumn of 2007. Completion of the project puts the province of Ontario at the front of the provincial wind energy race in Canada.

That windmills (is it really a mill?)  are magnificant in their size.   Standing close to one makes you feel very small.   They day I was there the blades were turning at about 5 rpm and you could barely feel the breeze that was moving them.  These are very effecient windmills.   They were also much quieter then what I recalled from my visit to the wind farm in Palm Springs many years ago.  

You can get an idea of where these windmills are located by looking at the map for this image of Windmill Generations.

Windmills, Part of Melancthon Wind Farm