Manitoba OKs deal for biggest wind farm

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- An agreement was struck Monday for the construction of Canada's largest wind farm to be built in southern Manitoba, provincial officials said.

The $800 million project will use 130 wind-driven turbines to generate 300 megawatts of power outside the rural southern town of St. Joseph, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The project developed by Babcock & Brown Canada ULC cleared its biggest hurdle when Premier Gary Doer and Manitoba Hydro chief executive Bob Brennan, signed the agreement. The deal still needs regulatory approvals and a formal power-sharing agreement has yet to be established, the CBC said.

Construction of the farm is scheduled to begin next year, with electrical production beginning in 2011, officials said.

Brennan told a Winnipeg news conference the farm's output will displace about 800,000 tons of greenhouse emissions each year, or the equivalent of 145,000 cars' emissions.

Local landowners also stand to receive about $70 million in land lease agreements, the report said.