Thunder Mountain is a wind project located north of the Heritage Highway in the Peace River District; it has an estimated total generating capacity of up to 600 MW. In January 2011, Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. acquired a controlling interest in the project. Thunder Mountain is located on provincial Crown land and, at its nearest point, is about 18 km southeast of the coal-mining community of Tumbler Ridge and 27 km from a grid interconnect point. The site is largely treed and traversed by petroleum development and forestry service roads, which offer relatively easy access. In 2009, the Thunder Mountain Wind Project was awarded a BC Environmental Assessment Certificate for up to 320 MW and it has all major permitting in place leading up to construction, including an Interim License of Occupation covering approximately 2300 hectares. There are 10 meteorological towers in the project area that have been collecting wind data for about six years.