North Battleford plans to make a submission to the province for a wind turbine that could be used to power up rinks in the community.
The city plans to make an application to the SaskPower Self Generated Electricity Project for Rinks for a wind turbine that could be plugged into the grid and be used to power rinks in the city.
According to SaskPower guidelines, four rinks will receive wind turbines that are estimated to generate between 4,500 and 10,000. It is a demonstration program where the data gathered would help guide future programs at Saskatchewan rinks to make their operations more affordable.
The application deadline was Friday, March 4, and the City got the ball rolling on that application by passing a resolution at Monday's meeting endorsing four potential installation locations for submission in that application: the airport, waste management facility, wastewater treatment plant and King Hill.
That resolution clears the way for the city administration to make its application to SaskPower's program.
According to acting Parks and Recreation director Keith Anderson, the locations being proposed are "a little bit different from what they are requesting - they wanted one location within visual distance of the arena," said Anderson.
What the city is proposing instead, Anderson said, is remote monitoring and situating the turbines in more industrial areas. Anderson said this is so the facility wouldn't block views of the river valley and other areas.
The wind turbine does not actually get plugged into a facility to offset power directly, he said. Instead, it will be connected to the grid at the closest practical location and the power generation is metered and then credited to the facility.
"So the wind turbine doesn't directly feed a rink - it directly feeds the power supply." Anderson said.
Anderson told reporters following Monday's council meeting the city was gathering together the material they need to submit with their application, and expected the application to be made later in the week.
According to SaskPower's website, successful applicants will be notified by April of this year, with the wind turbines expected to be operational by summer 2011.
