Golden South Wind Energy Project

Location: Immediately south and east of the Town of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, approximately 175 kilometers southwest of Regina in the Rural Municipalities of Lake of the Rivers and Stonehenge

Capacity: 200MW

Energy Type: Wind Energy

About the Golden South Wind Project

The Golden South Wind Project (the Project) is located immediately south and east of the Town of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, approximately 175 kilometres southwest of Regina in the Rural Municipalities (RMs)of Lake of the Rivers and Stonehenge.

The Project was started in 2009 and is located within approximately 34,000 acres of leased agricultural land. The Project consists of 50 turbines, an underground electrical collection system, a transformer substation, meteorological towers, operations and maintenance building, new access roads and some upgraded existing roads. The Project has a generation capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) and reached Commercial Operations on March 31, 2022.

A Community Liaison Committee (CLC) was established for the Project in September 2019. The purpose of the CLC was to provide a venue for open dialogue with the local community during construction and the start of operations. The sixth and final CLC meeting took place on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, from 6:30pm to 8pm. Please visit the news postings below for the meeting agenda, presentation, and meeting minutes.

The Project has also committed to an annual Community Fund during operations. Please reach out to your local RM administrators for funding details. The RMs are responsible for administering and funds.

Project Updates

The Project reached Commercial Operations on March 31, 2022. The Operations and Business Management teams are now managing the facility.

Borea Construction completed reclamation activities in 2021 per the commitments made in the Technical Proposal that was prepared for the Project and approved by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (SKMOE) and the Site Rehabilitation Plan agreed to by the landowners. PESCA Environment will routinely monitor and assess the reclamation progress for 2022 and 2023.

A Post Construction Bird and Bat Mortality Monitoring (PCMM) program started in April 2022. The PCMM program has been developed in consultation with the SKMOE to monitor and assess the number of bird and bat mortalities. PRI has hired Natural Resource Solutions Inc. (NRSI), an environmental consulting company, to carry out the program. The program will last a minimum of two years, and annual survey results will be submitted to the SKMOE. If mortality exceeds specific thresholds, PRI will work with SKMOE on mitigation to reduce mortality. Additional information on the PCMM program will be provided on this website following the completion of the surveys and consultation with SKMOE.

Project Location

The Golden South Wind Project (the Project) is located immediately south and east of the Town of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, approximately 175 kilometers southwest of Regina in the Rural Municipalities of Lake of the Rivers and Stonehenge.

The CLC was established to act as a forum for exchanging information and sharing comments related to the Golden South Wind Project (the Project). It also allowed for continuous communications between local residents, interested parties and the Golden South Wind LP (GSW LP), as the Project progressed through construction and into operations.

The CLC aimed to meet two to three times annually during the construction period (approximately 17 months) and during initial operations. The meetings were open to the public for observation and members of the public were invited to submit questions prior to each meeting. The questions were answered at the meeting and members of the public were given the opportunity to ask additional questions at the end of the meetings.

The Project held six CLC meetings in total: the first in September 2019, the second in February 2020, the third one in July 2020; the fourth one in November 2020; the fifth in April 2021, and the sixth (and final) in May 2022. Due to COVID-19, the third, fourth and fifth CLC meetings were held virtually over Zoom and Teleconference.

The CLC was structured to include representation from a diverse range of interests. The CLC community members were selected through an open process and impartial process. Recruitment notices were posted in the local newspapers in July 2019, and interested individuals were asked to submit a request to participate.

The CLC was composed of three community members, at least one representative from GSW LP, and a CLC Facilitator from Dillon Consulting Limited. Technical staff/specialists and members of the GSW LP construction team and Borea Construction attended meetings as required. Membership in the CLC did not constitute support, endorsement, or opposition of the Project, and participating in the CLC was a voluntary activity.