Naikun plots an offshore wind farm in British Columbia.

If all goes as planned, British Columbia could soon be home to one of the first off-shore wind farms in North America.

NaiKun Wind Energy Group (TSX: NKW) this week officially announced plans to enter a proposal in BC Hydro’s "Call for Clean Power." The proposed wind farm would generate about 320 megawatts (MW) of power. First, the proposal must be accepted and technical hurdles overcome.

Paul Taylor, NaiKun’s president, says he is confident the project can be built for about $1.3 billion. The company will use 65 to 100 turbines capable of generating 3.5 MW to 5 MW each. "It is a proven technology" that is already in operation off the coast of Germany, Denmark and Whales in the North Sea, he says. The company is in discussions with four turbine suppliers, though Taylor declined to name them.

The project NaiKun is submitting to BC Hydro is slated for the Hecate Straight approximately 100 kilometers off the coast of the B.C. mainland east of the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is the first phase of a five-phase project, which Taylor says could end up yielding as much as 1,750 MW of renewable energy. The entire "Haida Energy Field" could yield as much as 15,000 MW, which is more than all the power currently generated in the province by large dams, according to Taylor. 

Taylor says the company plans to submit its environmental impact review by Jan. 15, 2009.  The project has received strong support from the area’s First Nations and other communities, according to Taylor.

If the project is accepted by BC Hydro and permits are secured, getting the power from the 65-square-kilometer site to the B.C. mainland could also be an issue. Laying almost 100 km of undersea cable is not insignificant. But it has been done before, Taylor points out. Once the power reaches shore, Taylor says there is ample room on the transmission system to carry power from the project to the mainland.