It was a good part Dugglesby's determination that brought about Mt. Hays Wind Farm Limited Partnership, which was successfully awarded an Electricity Power Agreement ("EPA") in the 2006 Clean Power Call by BC Hydro, and this turned into a 25-year agreement for BC Hydro to buy electricity generated by Mt. Hays Wind Farm.
The farm is located on the southern slope of Mt. Hays, on 731 hectares four km south of Prince Rupert, B.C.. Thommason said that today Katabatic is busy negotiating the purchase of the turbines to situate at Mt. Hays. "We're busy working on that."
These negotiations are for turbines that range $3 million to $7 million each, and Mt. Hays has 18 turbines for a project total of 27 MW (enough for 10,000 homes). Nolan said the turbine supplier is busy trying to meet backorders right now. Roads and foundations are going in on Mt. Hays this summer. The turbines will be installed and generating electricity in 2010.
A second project for Katabatic is the proposed Banks Island Wind Farm, which had also been spearheaded by Tony Dugglesby. This is a much larger wind farm on an uninhabited island approximately 75km long and 25km wide on the North Pacific Coast.
Banks Island is 90 km south of Prince Rupert and the 100 hectare site would contain 103 to 234 (3MW or greater) land-based wind turbines. That makes this one a bigger project moving electrical energy across more than one First Nation territory. The EPA-related announcement will be made one way or another in June 2009 by BC Hydro.
Meanwhile, Thommason said, Katabatic's officers have been working with the Gitxaala, Lax Kw'alaams, and Metlakatla First Nations on land issues since 2006, and Haisla more recently to work out other contractual agreements, generally to work out commercial relationships. Wind farms are in the pioneering stage of development in Canada, he said, and the timing is right for First Nations to make business arrangements that offer long-term income streams from wind power.
Mt Hays was never constructed.
