Burchill Wind Farm

Desktop mapping, two summers of wetland and watercourse delineation, an environmental permitting roadmap and a winter geotechnical program let turbine locations be optimized and construction proceed.

In March 2019 Saint John Energy signed with Natural Forces to add renewable generation to its portfolio. The ten-turbine, roughly 42 MW Burchill Wind Project, which generates clean electricity for up to 10,000 homes, triggered Environmental Impact Assessment review.

Finding what the maps missed

Desktop constraints mapping of the 1,000-plus hectare parcel showed numerous unmapped watercourses and wetlands. Our environmental team spent the summers of 2019 and 2020 ground-truthing the site, identifying and delineating those features and characterizing flora, fauna and habitat. Turbine locations were then optimized against the field data and EIA analysis to reduce overall impact, with mitigation measures developed where effects on watercourses or wetlands were unavoidable. We also prepared Saint John Energy’s environmental permitting roadmap and a turbine setback optimization analysis.

What the ground said

In the winter of 2020 our geotechnical team used boreholes and test pits along the proposed roads, turbine locations, crane pads and laydown areas. The investigation found shallow loose-to-compact topsoil and organics over very severely fractured to very sound igneous and volcanic bedrock. Recommendations, including engineered fills, allowed construction to move forward.