Field trip to Halkirk wind farm - an eye-opening experience for MEGSA members

The Shell Enhanced Learning Fund provided MEGSA with the money for a trip to the Halkirk Wind Farm

Robyn Braun - 26 September 2019

The Mechanical Engineering Graduate Students Association (MEGSA) recently visited the Halkirk windfarm with funds they received through The Shell Canada Enhanced Learning Fund (SELF). The SELF award for groups is meant to fund field trips and other eye-opening experiences for students.

Wasel-Ur Rahman, MEGSA's president, contacted Capital Power, the company that runs the Halkirk wind farm, to find out about visiting the field. MEGSA's executive team then decided to pursue the trip and, Milad Rezvani, MEGSA's VP External, applied for the award in summer 2019 to fund the visit. The team learned in May that their proposal had received the maximum amount ($3000) available for planning a group activity.

"It was MEGSA's best event yet. Because of the SELF fund we didn't have to ask for contributions from participants and we paid for everyone's transportation and meals," says Rezvani. "We are extremely thankful to Shell Canada for providing the MEGSA team with this funding. We are also very thankful to Mr. Bryan Rapati for his support and guidance."

Capital Power's site manager, Mark Jackson, provided MEGSA with a presentation on everything about the wind farm, from the history and development of the farm, to the motion of the blades, the production of energy and how the power is transferred to the grid. He was also their guide to several sites and wind turbines in the fields.

The Halkirk windfarm, built in 2012, is entirely automated and so, although it has over eighty wind turbines it is run by only 10 staff, some of them part-time.

"Halkirk Wind uses the a remote operating and monitoring system," explains Johnson.

Managers can check on all the turbines and conditions in the fields from the computers in the administration building. All the wind turbines can also be controlled from the administration building. The turbines are rotated to capture the wind and managers can read and manage the efficiency of each individual turbine.

The turbines send their power via underground collector lines to a main transformer, which then sends the power to the grid. The windfarm generates enough power to meet the energy needs of approximately 50, 000 Alberta households (based on an average household energy usage of 1, 000 kW/month).


"The best part was seeing how the wind turbines paid off," says Rezvani. "People always argue against renewables by saying they aren't profitable. But the whole farm was paid off after 6 years and now they're generating revenue."

According to Jackson, the land for the wind farms remains actively farmed as well and landowners plant their crops right up to the base of the tower.

"In the summer, the cattle relax in the shade of the towers," he says.

For Rezvani, the shift to renewable energy sources is important and urgent work.

"We have to shift from fossil fuels to renewables because of both the cost and the impact on the environment," he says.

Rezvani takes his inspiration from a quote he heard on a nature program.

"We have to 'stop drilling the earth and start looking at the sky' for our energy future."

Of course, Rezvani was not alone in making this trip possible. Wasel-Ur Rahman, MEGSA President, Guriqbal Munday and Meng Rao, both VP Events, Tanveer Mehedi, VP Finance, and Prashanth Karupothula, VP Communication, actively helped to organize the event.


Participating in MEGSA events is a great way to get the most out of your graduate school experience and MEGSA nominations are coming up. All MecE grad students are encouraged to nominate themselves or to participate in the voting process.

"MEGSA provides terrific professional development opportunities but is also a great chance to make friends and really enjoy yourself," says Rezvani. "This trip's a good example. Everyone left happy."

You can learn more about MEGSA here.