Our Projects
Community First Approach
The Right People in the Right Places
Tomorrow’s approach to energy requires finding the right conditions and relationships at a local and regional level which, brought together, create global solutions.
This holistic approach is the key to Sequoia’s success and turns on the interplay of five key resources: land and energy resources; landowners and their community; transmission access; government partners; utilities and consumers.
Land and Energy Resources:
Generations of North Americans have worked with the gifts and constraints of the land. And the prairie lands of Western Canada and the Midwest United States have done an especially good job of creating some of the strongest winds in the world. We extensively test wind in every proposed wind farm site erecting meteorological towers that rise 200 feet into the air or use our mobile Sodar system that measures wind up to 900 feet above the land.
Landowners and Their Community:
It takes a community to advance renewable energy, which is why we pioneered our “community first approach". We want to ensure that projects fit with how a landowner and a community want their land developed. We carry that philosophy through from early decisions about wind test locations to land lease agreements, co-designed between the community and Sequoia. Every community is unique and every Sequoia wind farm is designed with that in mind since a wind farm will be part of the community for years to come.
Transmission Access:
Tomorrow’s wind turbines will be taller and more efficient at capturing the wind and turning it into electrons, but moving those electrons from the field to the light bulb above the kitchen table will take careful planning.
We’re working diligently to smoothly and carefully introduce renewable energy into established power grids. Over the years, we’ve co-operated closely with the engineers responsible for creating the very transmission lines we will use. We have spent millions of dollars and will spend millions more to complete interconnection studies and designs, determining where and how new renewable energy can be safely added to the power grid.
Government Partners:
Governments have a lot of expectations and Sequoia will meet their requirements, knowing these regulations and policies have been put in place to protect land, wildlife, people and power systems. The first step is a thorough, independent environmental assessment to determine how renewable projects could affect the local flora, fauna and human inhabitants.
Since a wind farm is a new venture for many municipal leaders, we work with them on zoning - pointing them to examples of the best practices we’ve seen work well for other communities.
We conduct public consultations and work with provincial, state and federal authorities to comply with transportation planning, air safety regulations, land use planning and heritage sites, often with up to dozens of government stakeholders to consider.
Utilities and Consumers:
Everyone from consumers to utilities are asking for more green energy – derived from renewable sources like the wind and the sun.
They know, as we do, we must change the way we work and live. Homeowners and businesses are learning to conserve energy. Contractors are creating new energy efficient green buildings. Utilities are leading the way with energy saving incentives, in some cases paying a premium for energy created in an environmentally friendly way.
“We have farmers and mayors of small towns tell us all the time that they need stable diversified sources of revenues to sustain their roads, schools
and arenas."
Bob Spensley,
Managing Director, Community Partnerships, Sequoia Energy Inc.