Building a wind farm in Alberta (Canada) presents a unique technical and logistical challenge — but also a major opportunity. In an environment defined by extreme temperatures and demanding terrain, ACCIONA Energía has demonstrated its ability to adapt and innovate, bringing its largest wind farm in North America to life. Would you like to find out how they made it happen?
The explorers wore reindeer skin garments and relied on 52 Greenlandic dogs to haul their sledges. To protect their eyes from the sun’s glare over the endless snowy plateaus, they used tinted goggles designed to filter out radiation. They also donned heavy mittens and layered hand coverings to withstand the brutal Antarctic cold, where temperatures could plunge to -60ºC. After months of meticulous preparation, the daring expedition reached its climax on 14 December 1911, when the team planted the Norwegian flag at the heart of the South Pole. The feat of Roald Amundsen and his crew was thus immortalized.
More than a century later, close to the planet’s North Pole, a very different kind of project echoes the spirit of that expedition in many ways: from enduring extreme temperatures of -32ºC to the detailed planning of both human and material resources to enable the construction and upkeep of installations on the plains of southern Alberta, Canada. This is the Forty Mile project — ACCIONA Energía's largest wind farm in North America to date, and one of the ten largest in Canada —a logistical challenge that is already delivering renewable energy to 85,000 homes. Here, we explain how it was built and the maintenance demands of operating in an environment defined by extreme cold.
The howling wind sweeps through Forty Mile County, facing no obstacle in its path. The area’s plains are almost entirely flat, with only a few scattered groves of trees that offer shelter to herds of pronghorns.
When temperatures plunge to -20ºC or -30ºC, with wind chill pushing it down to -40ºC, the ground hardens into an impenetrable shell. This presented the first major challenge for the ACCIONA Energía team tasked with preparing the site for the wind farm. The harsh conditions meant that excavation work to lay the turbine foundations had to wait until the summer months.
Later, in the autumn, work began on installing the towers, nacelles, and blades of the 49 Nordex wind turbines that make up the farm. Once fully operational, they will produce 280 MW of renewable power.
Each of these turbines has a capacity of 5.7 MW, making them among the largest of their kind. During construction, assembling the towers requires extensive work to ensure every bolt is properly tightened. Later, during maintenance, re-tightening those bolts becomes a time-consuming and meticulous task. This type of work can take up to 12 hours, often requiring operators to work in multiple shifts and wear several layers of thermal clothing, depending on the expected temperatures.
Almost every decision Amundsen made to ensure the success of his expedition centered on protecting the five members of his team—a principle that also guides the approach to staff safety at Forty Mile. Along with windproof coats, sealskin suits and pressed wool blankets, the Norwegian explorers designed special footwear with stiff soles for crampons and flexible uppers to aid mobility. At Forty Mile, when harsh weather sets in, every outing is meticulously planned, covering both the type of clothing worn and the protocol for checking every item of equipment.
The clothing includes several lighter and heavier layers so that employees can remove or add garments depending on the activity and location, whether they are stepping out of a vehicle, climbing into the turbine’s nacelle at height or working inside the nacelle.
When working outdoors, operators must leave vehicles running during short operations to prevent the engines from freezing. Black ice — a transparent, slippery layer that can cause vehicles to lose traction — poses a particular hazard, as it cannot be marked due to its invisibility. To manage this risk, we use an app that allows users to report unsafe conditions across the site, keeping all personnel informed.
All staff receive first aid training, and emergency equipment is stored in field offices during construction and made available in every operations and maintenance building once the site is operational. This is standard practice for E&C, with a strong emphasis on regularly inspecting the equipment to ensure it is functional and easily accessible. Plans are also in place to equip every vehicle with emergency kits to further enhance safety.
Based on our Emergency Plan and the number of personnel on site, the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) team is responsible for responding to any injuries. Forty Mile is classified as an Isolated Work Site under the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Code—defined as being more than 40 minutes from a hospital—which requires additional medical provisions on site, such as a dedicated medic and, if needed, emergency helicopter support.
At the dizzying heights where the icy wind powers the turbines, the cold also affects the nacelles, electronics, and hydraulic fluids. This makes additional measures essential. Each turbine is equipped with what is known as the Low Temperature Pack—a package of functionalities designed to keep equipment running in such extreme conditions. This includes heating systems to regulate the temperature inside the nacelle, specialized insulation, anti-icing coatings, storm alert systems, and even blade heating technologies.
Operating a wind farm involves challenging tasks, such as climbing into the turbine nacelle over 100 meters above the ground. Add to this the bitter cold, the risk of sudden storms, and the need to work in heavy, cumbersome clothing, and the importance of constant communication to pre-empt problems or provide help in an emergency becomes clear. For this reason, all team members working outdoors are equipped with mobile phones and back-up radio systems.
If a storm is approaching, all phones receive an instant warning. Maintenance operators must also stay in constant contact. For instance, only one technician may climb into the nacelle at a time. Once at the top, they alert the second technician that it is safe to follow.
"Operating a wind farm involves challenging tasks, such as climbing into the turbine nacelle over 100 m above the ground."
The smooth operation of the park is closely linked to the local community, which consists mainly of farmers. From the outset, care was taken to respect the flow of waterways, ensuring irrigation systems were not disrupted and flooding was avoided—all to minimize any interference with their daily activities. In addition, farmers receive regular financial compensation for the use of their land.
At the same time, ACCIONA contributes to a range of local initiatives through its social impact initiative. Since the project began in 2024, more than half a million dollars have been donated to the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society, The Root Cellar Food & Wellness Hub and the Forty Mile Regional FCSS.
The Forty Mile Wind Farm joins other ACCIONA Energía projects located in cold, remote settings, such as the Lameque Wind Farm in New Brunswick and the Tatanka Wind Farm, which resides in both North Dakota and South Dakota, USA. These are engineering feats that put our ability to respond to meteorological and geographical challenges to the test.
Much like Amundsen when he raised the Norwegian flag, the wind turbines of Forty Mile now stand tall over the county’s plains as emblems of renewable energy. They are, in equal measure, a testament to human tenacity, teamwork, and ingenuity—even in the harshest environments.
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