Pennecon Limited

Catch the wind┬áA wind of change is blowing through the energy generation sector in Canada, as the St. Lawrence Wind Project attests. You need to be a certain age to remember this, but the British folk singer Donovan had a mega-hit single in 1965 with a song called Catch the Wind. It was a love song, of course, not an environmental statement, but 40-odd years later the world has suddenly fallen in love with the wind. Wind is by no means a new source of energy. Windmills are recorded as early as the ninth century in Persia, and Don Quixote was tilting at them in 16th century Spain. But we donÔÇÖt call them windmills anymoreÔÇötheyÔÇÖre wind turbines now, and they generate electricity that contributes to the power grid, rather than simply turning a grindstone.Although Canada has plenty of wind, it has not been a world leader in the development of wind power. In some European countries, wind power contributes a substantial percentage of total electric output. Denmark, for instance, generates over 20 percent of its electricity from wind; Germany, around 8 percent. In contrast, CanadaÔÇÖs installed wind generating capacity hovers around the world average of about 1 percent of total electricity demand. But that is about to change. Canada has great natural advantages in hydro-electric power, but environmental, financial and political pressures are putting the squeeze on all traditional methods of power generation, and wind is breezing in to fill the gaps. Pennecon Limited is one company poised to take advantage of the increasing interest in wind power. A member of the Penney Group of companies, headquartered in St. JohnÔÇÖs, Newfoundland and Labrador, Pennecon has over 1,200 employees engaged in heavy civil, concrete, energy and real estate sectors. While the companyÔÇÖs background is in mining, transportation, oil and gas, and hydroelectric power, it has recently entered the wind power arena with a design-build project for NewWind Inc.ÔÇöa $16 million contract awarded in May 2007 for the provinceÔÇÖs first commercial wind farm near the town of St. Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula.The contract includes the erection of nine Vestas V-90 wind turbine generators, with concrete foundations, access roads, areas for equipment laydown, underground and overhead energy collector systems, a project substation with a step up transformer, and a 66-kV transmission line to connect to the provinceÔÇÖs energy grid. The project had a number of challenges, not least because of the very wind it was trying to catch. An 80-meter-high wind turbine must be erected by cranes, but if you have chosen your location carefully enough to capture the most wind, itÔÇÖs a hostile environment for cranes. Another problem was that being the first wind farm project in Newfoundland and Labrador, sources of transportation for all the heavy equipment were also difficult to find locally. Add to that a perennial fog which meant that contractors unused to the area often had difficulty finding the site, itÔÇÖs a minor miracle that the project was finished on time. Another miracle was how Pennecon managed to absorb a 30 percent fuel price increase between the time of the bid and completion of the project.Pennecon has recently also been involved in the second commercial wind farm in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Fermeuse Wind Farm Project, developed by Skypower of Toronto, building nine concrete foundations as a sub-contractor to Atcon Constuction Inc. of Miramichi, New Brunswick.The federal Government has projected that wind energy will supply six percent of CanadaÔÇÖs electricity by 2020. The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) argues that wind energy is capable of supplying twenty percent of CanadaÔÇÖs total electricity needs by 2025. This would represent an additional 55,000 MW of power, a 30-fold increase over current levels.Whether or not these targets are met, there is no doubt that CanadaÔÇÖs wind energy industry will expand rapidly over the next decade, creating exciting opportunities for businesses like Pennecon. President and COO Larry Puddister understands the importance of new markets like this. ÔÇ£The business environment is constantly changing and in order to avail of new and exciting growth opportunities we must remain innovative, energetic, and adaptive,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£We simply aspire to exceed customersÔÇÖ needs and industry standards in all that we do.ÔÇØ┬á