A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday afternoon near Assiniboia to mark the start of Saskatchewan’s first wind energy project.

The Golden South Wind Energy Facility is a $325-million project that will consist of 50 permanent magnet wind turbines with a net capacity of 200 megawatts.

The project will produce 900,000 megawatt hours and cut out over 500,000 tonnes of carbon from the electricity grid.

SaskPower President and C-E-O Mike Marsh and Minister responsible for SaskPower Dustin Duncan were present for the ceremony.

In a statement from the government, Minister Duncan said the project will boost the Crown corporation’s efforts in reaching their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030.

The site of the facility will be located around 140 kilometres southwest of Regina.