Work begins on Hermanville wind farm

Concrete is being poured for the foundations of 10 new wind turbines in eastern P.E.I.

Energy Minister Wes Sheridan and several members of the P.E.I. Energy Corporation were on site this week to see the work begin.

"We have two of the pads of the 10 turbine towers poured," said Sheridan.

"The towers will start to arrive on site at the end of August and the erection of the towers will begin in September and the turbines and blades will start to arrive in October."

The local community will receive $125,000 a year in fees for the turbines. Sheridan said residents were asked to come up with an advisory group that will manage that money and decide how it should be spent.

Landowners will also get payments totalling about $225,000 a year.

The wind farm is going up over the protests of some residents, who are concerned about noise and the view.

The wind farm will generate 30 megawatts and should be in full operation by November.