Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Nova Scotia Power looks to invest $27.8m in C.B. wind farm


Nova Scotia Power is seeking approval for a $27.8-million investment in a wind farm planned for the Strait area in Cape Breton.

The utility, a subsidiary of Emera Inc., has applied to the province's Utility and Review Board for approval to partner with Renewable Energy Services Ltd.

Last February, Nova Scotia Power signed a contract with the company to buy energy from a 22-megawatt wind farm to be built at Point Tupper.

Renewable Energy Services will build and operate the wind farm while Nova Scotia Power will buy 49 per cent of the project.

The wind farm, which is scheduled to come online this year, will produce enough energy to serve about 6,000 homes in Nova Scotia.

Renewable Energy Services owns and operates turbines across the province in a number of communities and has two wind farms in development in Alberta.


http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/9015351.html


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NSP seeks OK of deal on Strait wind farm


Nova Scotia Power is seeking regulatory approval to spend $28 million to kick-start a stalled wind farm in Point Tupper, Cape Breton.

The utility formally applied Tuesday for approval of its agreement to partner with Renewable Energy Services Ltd. to build and construct a wind farm planned for the Strait area to come online later this year.

"We are very pleased to have this partnership with an experienced Nova Scotia company like RESL, which has been producing wind energy in our province since 2005," Robin McAdam, NSP vice-president, said in a news release.

"Our agreement preserves an excellent project and also ensures that we maintain a long-term contract that will provide clean energy at the lowest possible cost to Nova Scotia Power customers."

Under the agreement, RESL of Lower Sackville will build and operate the wind farm and Nova Scotia Power will have a 49 per cent stake in it.

The $55-million project is to produce 22.5 megawatts of electricity from 11 turbines, enough energy for about 6,000 homes.

Nova Scotia Power proposes to buy six of the wind farm’s new 11 Enercon wind turbines. There is one existing turbine at Point Tupper.

The utility and its parent company, Emera Inc., now have ownership stakes in three of the six wind power projects for which Nova Scotia Power signed power purchase agreements in 2008.

The provincial government ordered Nova Scotia Power to have five per cent of its total electricity purchases generated by independent power producers from renewable energy sources by the end of 2011. The legislation was supposed to encourage competition in the marketplace and allow independent power producers to get a toehold in the province.

RESL owns and operates turbines across Nova Scotia in Brookfield, Goodwood, Digby, Marshville and Richmond County. RESL also has two wind farms under development in Alberta.


http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1169194.html

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