Work has officially begun on a new wind energy facility near Assiniboia, Sask.

Potentia Renewables Inc. celebrated the groundbreaking of Golden South Wind Energy Facility on Monday afternoon, its first-ever wind energy project in the province.

The $325-million project consists of 50 wind turbines with a net capacity of 200 megawatts (MW).

“We are pleased to start the construction of this exciting project,” Potentia Renewables CEO Jeff Jenner said.

“The cooperation that we received from local and provincial organizations along with SaskPower, the utility and off-taker of the energy, has enabled us to accelerate our plans and target commercial operation at the end of 2020.”

The project is expected to provide SaskPower with the lowest cost of renewable energy in Canada for the next 25 years.

“This project will bolster SaskPower’s efforts toward meeting our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40 per cent by 2030,” Minister Responsible for SaskPower Dustin Duncan said.

Officials said the facility should generate about 900,000 MW per hour and eliminate more than 500,000 tonnes of carbon from the electricity grid, the equivalent of eliminating over 100,000 cars from the road.

“Through investments such as this, we can rise to meet the challenges of climate change while also creating good jobs and growing the local economy,” Duncan said.

More than 250 people will be employed during construction and up to 10 permanent full-time staff will operate it.

Assiniboia is about 140 kilometres southeast of Regina and 150 kilometres southeast of Swift Current.

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