The Apuiat project has reached a new stage with the arrival of the first wind turbine components on the North Shore and nine ships from Denmark will follow one another between now and June at the Port-Cartier quay for this transshipment operation. .
The North Shore currently has no wind farms. The arrival of these components by ship takes on special significance.
“What we see behind me are the first wind turbine components to touch the north coastal ground. It’s historic,” rejoiced the person responsible for relations with the Apuiat community, Élisabeth Chevalier.
In addition, the wind turbines manufactured by the Danish company Vestas are the most powerful to be erected in Quebec according to the promoter of the Apuiat project. Each of them can generate six megawatts. This increased power has also made it possible to reduce the number of wind turbines in the 200 megawatt park from 50 to 34.
The wind turbine components will be temporarily stored on the Arbec sawmill land until they are transported by road, which will take place over a period of at least three months, starting in mid-May.
“We must finalize the land on the side of the wind project site. We have to finalize the paths, the pads, get everything ready so that it can be transported to the site. Afterwards, it will be the assembly which will be carried out during the summer,” indicated Élisabeth Chevalier.
The Port-Cartier wharf was chosen for this operation because of its proximity to the project construction site. Vulnerable to the onslaught of waves, it was damaged during a storm this winter. The access path was able to be resurfaced just in time for the arrival of the wind turbines.
“The path was redone two weeks ago because of a storm in January,” said the new director of the Port-Cartier wharf, Sébastien Deschênes.
He intends to use the unloading of the wind turbines as a business card for future users of the quay to promote it. Currently, the wharf is only used sporadically for the transport of wood chips and scrap metal.
“It’s a certain pride for our community. We’ve had a dock like this for a long time capable of handling all kinds of special materials. It is high time to start developing it,” mentioned Sébastien Deschênes.
The Apuiat project, valued at $600 million, is a partnership between Boralex and Innu communities. The choice of the Danish company Vestas as supplier of the wind turbines was motivated by a question of profitability.
“We always want to source from Quebec as much as possible, the same goes for the local communities in which we settle. We make it our duty to do so. However, it must be done at equal or competitive price and quality. Unfortunately, for this park, we could not obtain supplies in Quebec,” explained Ms. Chevalier.
Commissioning of the wind farm is still planned for the end of 2024.
2024-03-06 21:21:59
#wind #turbines #North #Shore #delivered #PortCartier
