Grand Bend Wind Farm

Burnside was retained by the Grand Bend Wind Limited Partnership with Northland Power Inc. to provide a host of services in support of the Grand Bend Wind Farm in Huron County, Ontario.

The 100 MW wind farm consists of 40 2.5 MW wind turbines situated on agricultural land that spans the lower-tier municipalities of Bluewater and Huron South. Portions of the 32 km underground 230 kV transmission line also traverse the Municipality of Huron East and West Perth in Perth County.

The Class 4 wind facility, under Ontario Regulation 359/09 of the Environmental Protection Act, is anticipated to power the equivalent of 29,000 homes for at least 20 years and is connected to the provincial 230 kV grid south of the Seaforth Transformer Station. Electricity generated at each wind turbine is distributed through a new 36 kV collector system, transformer substation, and a 230 kV transmission line, all located underground along municipal road rights-of-way.

Services that we provided for the project included securing O.Reg. 359/09 approvals, pre-construction natural heritage assessments and reporting, Significant Wildlife and Species at Risk surveys, three years of post-construction environmental monitoring and reporting of bird and bat mortalities, and successfully obtaining federal and provincial scientific permits and authorizations.

We also completed GIS mapping, noise assessments, structural foundation design, drainage approvals, road and culvert design, Phase 1 ESAs at 30 properties, and public, stakeholder, and Indigenous consultation. We were very pleased to be able to provide a large suite of services to such an important renewable energy project that will power Ontario homes and businesses.