MESSAGE FROM PROJECT PM - FALL 2025
MESSAGE FROM PROJECT MANAGER DAN VISSER
Nilhts'i Ecoener Project started with a bang in January 2025 when the Project was one of nine wind projects selected by BC Hydro to receive an Electricity Purchase Agreement (EPA). The Project Owners, Ecoener and Lheidli T'enneh First Nation (LTFN), immediately started working through the engineering, project development and interconnection process stage of the Project. With project team members based in BC, Alberta, Ontario, and Spain, the first thing we had to do was determine what time of day worked best in each time-zone to schedule virtual meetings.
We worked with LTFN, regulators and experts to determine what data we needed to collect this year to help us prepare for further design work and permit applications in the coming years. Our focus this year was on knowing more about the wind patterns, environmental and archeological features as well as physical features at the project site. Several Lheidli T’enneh members as well as local experts were employed during this year’s Data Collection work. Preliminary engineering site visits were completed, and new wind measurement equipment was installed at the site.
Throughout this year we have met regularly with BC Hydro and BC Energy Regulator team members. We have also reached out to equipment suppliers for preliminary conversations about our project and our infrastructure needs. Ensuring the Project is designed, permitted and constructed to meet the 2031 operational requirement has required lots of alignment and discussion between the BC Hydro team building the infrastructure we will connect to, the permitting requirements and the physical design.
The BC Hydro interconnection process advanced significantly, clearing the first stage of evaluation called the System Impact Study where the Project interface with the BC Hydro transmission system was evaluated and the scope determined for the next stage of work required to safely integrate the project into the grid. The Project has moved into the Facility Study portion of the BC Hydro process, which will create specific engineering and project deliverables to define the construction requirements. BC Hydro will build a switching station and configure control systems at the same time as the wind project construction to ensure we can both generate electricity and send it to where it’s needed by BC Hydro customers.
The Project team also attended several community events over the summer of 2025 to start building awareness of the Project and ensure community members know how to learn more about the project and contact the team. The Hixon Fall Fair and Lheidli T'enneh Nation AGM were key events that we will continue to support and attend.
The rest of the year and Winter 2026 will be spent analyzing the data collected this year. This work will help us determine what additional data is required next year to develop permit applications. 2025 started fast for our project team and I anticipate 2026 will prove to be just as busy.
Lidar and Meteorological tower wind data collection units on the Nilhts’i Ecoener Wind Project site
