Posted by The AltaGas Bear Mountain Wind Park is located near(about a 20-30 minute drive) the small city of Dawson Creek in North Eastern British Columbia. In fact, the wind turbines are visible from a number of spots in Dawson Creek as they sit on a ridge overlooking the city. The Wind Park is a great place to go if you enjoy hiking, sightseeing, or simply experiencing nature. Make sure to take proper precautions though as there is plenty of wildlife and some industrial activity in the area. Safety first!
AltaGas Bear Mountain Wind Park Fun Facts
AltaGas is the owner of the wind farm and is a Canadian energy company with interests in Gas, Utilities, and Power. Using 34 Enercon wind turbines, the wind farm is able to produce a capacity of 102 MW. Each turbine generates enough energy to power 1000 homes. Commissioned in October 2009, the turbines will run for a minimum of 25 years. The towers were made in Saskatchewan, and the wind turbines were manufactured in Germany.
Top 5 Reasons To Love the AltaGas Bear Mountain Wind Park
- Clean energy.
- Wind is infinite and it’s free. They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but in this case, money is in the air. 🙂
- Local Energy Production and employment for the local population via operations/maintenance.
- Reactive Power capability – ensuring a more reliable electrical grid.
- Cost-competitive with all other energy sources. Over time, wind energy becomes less and less expensive due to inevitable advances in the technology.
The area around the Bear Mountain Wind Park is open to the public and many people go there for hiking, snowshoeing, ATV and snowmobile trails, photography, bird watching, and cross-country skiing. It truly is a beautiful place.
Below is a short video that I made. The turbines are fairly quiet. In fact, nature itself is louder than these machines. It’s pretty cool to think that these turbines power the homes we live in and in the not too distant future, the cars we will drive. 🙂
Thanks for reading about my time at the AltaGas Bear Mountain Wind Park. I hope you get the chance to visit some day soon!