P.E.I. government ponying up to fix Hermanville wind farm

With energy production at the Hermanville wind farm in eastern P.E.I. going from bad to worse, the provincial government has decided to make repairs itself, despite the fact it has a warranty.

The 10 turbines at Hermanville became operational in 2014 with a 15-year warranty. Under that warranty the P.E.I. Energy Corporation has been receiving millions of dollars from Nordex U.S.A. in lieu of lost production.

But the problems are about more than money. The wind farm is an important piece of the province's plan to reach net zero carbon emissions.

"Our priority is to make the windmills work so that we can have the renewable energy on the grid," said P.E.I. Energy Minister Steven Myers.

"There's a plan that's been approved to fix them — fix the bearing, I think, that's what's gone in them — and get them back working to 100 per cent."

The P.E.I. Energy Corporation's most recent annual report showed megawatt-hour production from the turbines in 2022-23 was down to just 35 per cent of the farm's output in its first year of operation.

The annual report said the warranty provider had been working to fix the turbines, but more recent numbers from the government show problems have grown worse. In July production was 942 MW-h, about 10 per cent of monthly production in its first couple of years of operation.

The province has now decided to take charge of repairs itself.

"We're footing the bill up front,' said Myers.

"It's $10 million, but there's a whole legal component that hasn't been completed yet so we'll have to wait and see how it all shakes out."

The original cost of the wind farm was $60 million. Myers said repairs would be completed this fall. 

Developing wind energy is still considered a risky venture, said Myers, and that's why the provincial government got involved in the first place, because private developers were not prepared to take on that risk.