Friday, November 26, 2010

Glen Dhu wind farm being sued over unpaid site work

N.B. firm says it’s owed more than $185,850

A New Brunswick construction company is suing over $185,850 in unpaid work it did at the site of a future wind farm that straddles Antigonish and Pictou counties.

Greenfield Construction Ltd. of Miramichi launched the suit against Shear Wind Inc., Glen Dhu Wind Energy Inc. and Enercon Canada Inc. to recoup money it is owed for site preparation and form work it did at Baileys Brook that wrapped up in early September, said a statement of claim made public Thursday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Greenfield has also registered a claim for a lien on the property.

"That’s something between our contractor (Enercon) and their subcontractor (Greenfield)," Bill Bartlett, Shear Wind’s chief financial officer, said in an interview Thursday.

"It’s nothing to do with us."

At first, Bartlett said the claim had been resolved. Then he changed his tack.

"It’s going to be settled in the next day," Bartlett said.

Greenfield’s lawyer, James MacNeil, confirmed Thursday that the companies are in discussion. "There are certainly talks going on," MacNeil said.

Bartlett said there is no chance the legal dispute could set back the wind power project that has already experienced delays due to a shortage of turbines.

"None whatsoever," Bartlett said. "It’s just a hiccup that happened and it’s being settled."

Shear Wind is developing the $150-million Glen Dhu wind power project to produce 60 megawatts of power. It was scheduled to have 27 turbines up and running by the end of December.

But the Bedford renewable energy firm has said it will erect only 12 of 27 turbines by Dec. 31, and the remainder will be installed by March 31.

Shear Wind is contractually obligated to provide Nova Scotia Power with 20 megawatts of wind-generated electricity, enough for almost 6,000 homes, by the end of December under a contract signed in 2008.


http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1214078.html

Friday, November 19, 2010

Society for Wind Vigilance - first international symposium proceedings now available


FIRST INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

THE GLOBAL WIND INDUSTRY AND ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS: Loss of Social Justice?

The Waring House Inn and Conference Center,

Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario October 29-31, 2010

Introduction

“Social justice is a matter of life and death. It affects the way people live, their consequent chance of illness, and their risk of premature death.” [1]

Globally, many individuals living in close proximity to industrial wind turbines report experiencing adverse health effects. In some cases families have felt compelled to abandon their homes to protect their health.

Pleas for recognition of their situation remain largely ignored by authorities and the public at large.

“I can’t believe the government is doing this to me”…”interference with the normal political processes”…”our rights as citizens…have been eroded” illustrate the feelings of hopeless by those impacted by industrial wind turbines.

Comments such as these formed the inspiration for an international symposium to explore the theme: THE GLOBAL WIND INDUSTRY AND ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS: Loss of Social Justice?

The symposium explored topics related to industrial wind turbine noise and the risk to health, the urgent need for research, and the loss of social justice. Legal, economic and social impacts were also explored.

Research from clinicians and presentations by experts in acoustics, physics, epidemiology, law, environmental economics and policy analysis were given. The role of advocacy journalism was also presented.

Each presentation formed a logical building block for the next, culminating in a description of the impacts to the loss of social justice.


http://www.windvigilance.com/symp_2010_proceedings.aspx

Wind firm CEO says fear limiting opportunity


Fear and ignorance at the municipal level is inhibiting growth of the wind power industry in Nova Scotia, a legislative committee heard Thursday.

Barry Zwicker, chief executive officer at Scotian Windfields, called for provincial intervention as some municipalities introduce restrictions that make it increasingly difficult for proponents of new wind farm projects to obtain required local approval.

"We’ve had wind farms with us for more than 20 years and repeated studies concluded they present a zero health risk," said Zwicker.

He said municipalities around the province are responding to unfounded local concerns about health risks like noise with an assortment of inconsistent land-use controls.

"Controls are approved by people who don’t understand the issues and who are scared of change."

He said if some people do not like the appearance of wind turbines they should just look the other way.

Zwicker told members of the province’s standing committee on resources that the Municipal Government Act and the Electricity Act should be tweaked to provide guidance to municipalities. He suggested this would include a provincial interest statement on energy, along the lines of the interest statement currently used to protect groundwater.

Interviewed after the committee session, Zwicker said Richmond County recently ruled that wind energy developers must proceed through a development agreement or rezoning process that will delay approval by months, while the Municipality of the County of Kings recently banned wind turbines larger than 100 kilowatts.

He added that the Municipality of the County of Annapolis recently ruled that wind turbines can only be erected in areas where there is little or no wind.

He said inclusion of an appropriate interest statement in Nova Scotia legislation would allow municipal planners and decision makers to check that proposed local controls are consistent with provincial energy objectives.

Zwicker also said the province could strengthen the wind power industry by supporting developers with loan guarantees to make it easier to raise capital.


http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1212826.html

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Bid to lift turbine fails

NSP, OpenHydro to try again today to retrieve machine from Fundy bottom


NOVA SCOTIA Power and its Irish partner OpenHydro ran out of time Monday and failed in their first attempt to remove their 400-tonne turbine from the bottom of the Bay of Fundy.

"We definitely had it in the frame and we are just running out of time, so unfortunately we are looking at another repeat operation tomorrow but with a little more experience," said OpenHydro president James Ives, who was on board the barge and giving instructions to the crew on a marine radio.

Ives made the decision shortly before 12:30 p.m. to abort the operation after engineers and tugboat crews had worked for hours trying to position the catamaran-style barge Installer over the turbine.

They were trying to lift it up to the barge before the tide started to come back in but they ran out of time.

The one-megawatt turbine, almost as tall as a six-storey building, is designed to harness the tidal action of the Bay of Fundy to generate enough electricity to power 300 households, but it is being pulled out of the water a year before the end of its scheduled testing period.

The retrieval operation, shrouded in secrecy, started at about 4:30 a.m. Monday in the Minas Channel, part of the Bay of Fundy about 10 kilometres west of Parrsboro.

The open-centred turbine and its subsea base are 16 metres in diameter, and crews tried to lift the unit using winches.

Closely watching the operation was John Woods, vice-president of Minas Basin Pulp and Power of Hantsport.

"All of us are benefitting from OpenHydro’s experience and expense," said Woods, whose company plans to launch its own test turbine in 2012.

He was anxious to see how OpenHydro stationed the barge and handled the wind and powerful tidal currents.

"We have pictures of how they got it down, and now we need to know how they stay on station and with tides and wind interaction," said Woods.

Representatives of government, business and academia were also watching from two chartered fishing boats. Among those on board was OpenHydro’s insurance broker, Alex Dunlop of Halifax.

"Anything, when you are dealing with prototypes (and) with heavy masses of water like this, is extremely risky," said Dunlop, who works for the global renewable energy insurance company AON of London, England.

The recovery operation is the first for a commercial-size underwater turbine, he said.

"It’s new technology, so we don’t really know a lot about it."

Dunlop said AON is interested in learning about the costs involved in bringing such a massive underwater turbine to the surface.

The turbine stopped transmitting information a mere seven days after it was lowered to the ocean floor almost exactly a year ago. The acoustic modems intended to allow crucial data to be recovered from the turbine didn’t work, and several attempts to activate them failed.

This summer, Nova Scotia Power and OpenHydro revealed that two blades had snapped off the turbine. The damage was discovered in May when a video camera was lowered 15 metres into the murky waters to film the turbine and caught the image in a two-second clip. Then the companies decided it was time to bring the turbine up and find out what had gone wrong.

Although it was always touted as experimental, it was Canada’s most ambitious attempt at harnessing the tides with a commercial-scale turbine.

The demonstration turbine cost $10 million, with Nova Scotia Power investing the lion’s share and $4.6 million coming from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a non-profit green energy foundation.

Two other test turbines are expected to be placed in the Bay of Fundy by 2012.

Clean Current Power Systems Inc. of British Columbia and its partner, international industrial giant Alstom of Switzerland, will deploy one turbine, and Minas Basin Pulp and Power and its partner, Marine Current Turbines Ltd. of Bristol, England, are handling the other.

The tests are intended to determine how turbines on the floor of the Bay of Fundy would affect marine life, including fish and whales.

Nova Scotia Power customers have a big stake in the outcome of the tests — turbines could provide cheap, clean and abundant electricity in the future.

"We are a province addicted to coal, and this offers a solution to get away from coal over time," Woods said.

Minas Basin has built a $12-million demonstration facility that includes underwater transmission lines to take the power generated by future turbines to a building containing electrical equipment that links up with the Nova Scotia power grid.

The building will also house a research laboratory to help the province and private companies determine whether turbines are environmentally and commercially feasible in the Bay of Fundy.

Lobster fisherman Croyden Wood of Parrsboro believes tidal power will become reality in the Bay of Fundy but he is concerned about how many turbines would be put there.

"We want to put traps down there, and they want to put turbines," Wood said. "I’m afraid if (there are) too many, the fish and lobsters won’t come to the area."

Wood, 47, owns one of the two boats that Minas Basin Pulp and Power hired to take people out on the water to watch Monday’s operation.

After the turbine is eventually retrieved, probably sometime this week, it will be towed to Cherubini Metal Works, a Dartmouth fabrication company.

OpenHydro is picking up the tab for recovering the turbine.


http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1212226.html


Monday, November 15, 2010

Turning to tides for power

Fundy energy could light N.S. homes by end of 2011, Dexter says after project funding announced


PARRSBORO — Premier Darrell Dexter believes energy from tidal power could be flowing into Nova Scotia homes as early as the end of next year.

Dexter made the comment Sunday after a news conference to announce $20 million in funding from the federal government for a tidal project in the Bay of Fundy and the purchase of four subsea cables.

"As soon as that technology is in the water and as soon as it’s generating electricity, it will literally go right into the grid," said Dexter. "It’s in the best interest of all the proponents to get their technology in the water as soon as possible and I’m told by the proponents that they feel that this is a realistic expectation."

The Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy, a non-profit institute receiving government and corporate funding, signed an $11-million contract for the production and installation of four subsea cables for the Minas Passage test site. The cables will connect tidal devices to the power grid and allow for the collection of real-time data.

IT International Telecom Inc., which won the contract, will complete about half of the work at its marine terminal in Halifax Harbour, creating about 100 jobs. The combined length of the cables is 11 kilometres and it is expected that they will be installed by next summer.

Paul Kravis, IT International Telecom’s vice-president, said the company is proud to be able to lay a green footprint in its own province.

"This is a great chance for our Nova Scotia-based employees to bring their skills and expertise to work right here in Nova Scotia. For us, this is more than a local contract; it’s a world-class project."

The Parrsboro location, which overlooks the Bay of Fundy, will be home to research labs, a community room and tidal energy-related educational tools.

Although Sunday’s announcement was good news, the project has not been without its challenges.

An experimental turbine is scheduled to be removed from the test site sometime this week because of two broken blades. Nova Scotia Power lost contact with the turbine just seven days after it was launched last spring. The turbine had wireless sensors that were to collect data about environmental impacts and potential electrical production.

Dexter said this remains a research project and such challenges will continue to be addressed moving forward.

"These technologies are, by their very nature, experimental. They are going to continue to experiment with various kinds of technology in order to find the very best (and) in order to make this commercially viable."

The province has started a consultation process to help create legislation for renewable marine resources before considering larger developments and to ensure such projects don’t interfere with the fishery or environment in general.

Power rates in the province continue to rise due to increases in the price of carbon-based fuels. The development of renewable resources such as tidal and wind power should ultimately help reduce electricity rates, said Dexter, although he admitted it will take time.

"They’re not short-term projects; they’re long-term projects. They mean that you are able to wean yourself off of your dependence on carbon-based fuels and give you a reliable fuel source for many years to come."

Dexter said part of changing the way people use energy in Nova Scotia includes partnering with other provinces, whether it is Newfoundland and Labrador with its Lower Churchill project or other provinces with which energy projects can be shared.

"There is a great opportunity for us to rewrite the entire energy standard, the entire energy equation, for this region."


http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1212115.html

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Record earnings for Emera

Halifax-based energy company posts third-quarter profit of $44.8 million


Emera Inc., the owner of Nova Scotia Power and other utilities, is reporting record earnings of $44.8 million, compared to $37.3 million the previous year, in third-quarter financial results released Friday.

"We have momentum in our business and this is translating into record earnings for the first three quarters of this year. In fact, Emera shares have provided an annualized total return to shareholders of 14.5 per cent over the last five years. This result is one that we are particularly proud of as it is proof that our strategy is working," Chris Huskilson, Emera president, told analysts during a conference call.

Emera’s stock was up 25 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange late Friday, trading at $30.20 a share.

The Halifax-based company also reported profits of $151.5 million for the first nine months of this year, compared to $138.2 million for the same period in 2009.

Huskilson also noted several milestones for the company over the past three months, with the advancement of the Maine and Maritimes Corp. as well as a transaction with NV Energy.

NB Power and Emera continue to work together to "formalize an agreement" to develop a new transmission line from Nova Scotia to southern New Brunswick, said Huskilson.

"New capacity in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick benefits everyone in the region. It improves our options for future renewable energy development. It enhances the reliability of the systems," he said.

This week, Nova Scotia Power and its partner, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, closed a deal after receiving regulatory approval to go ahead with a $208-million project to burn wood waste at a new power plant at the mill’s site in Point Tupper starting in 2012.

Also, Nova Scotia Power appeared before government regulators this month to hike power rates for residential customers by 6.5 per cent starting next year. If approved by the board, it would be the sixth power rate increase in nine years in Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia Power’s earnings were $22.4 million for the third quarter this year, compared to $16.6 million for the same period last year.

The company stated the increase relates primarily to lower income tax expenses as a result of tax deductions associated with NSPI’s increased renewable investments.

Emera has $508 billion in assets. Besides Nova Scotia Power, it operates Bangor Hydro Electric Co. in Maine and the Brunswick Pipeline, a 145-kilometre gas pipeline in New Brunswick.

Bangor Hydro Electric contributed $11.5 million to earnings in the third quarter of 2010, compared to $8.8 million in the same period in 2009. The increase was primarily due to increases in transmission pool revenue due to recovery of regionally funded transmission investments, in addition to other increases in transmission revenues in 2010.

Emera’s pipelines contributed $8.5 million to earnings in the third quarter, compared to $5.7 million in the same period in 2009.


http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1210651.html

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

NSP biomass project going ahead



Nova Scotia Power will go ahead with its plan to burn wood to generate electricity at a new power plant in Port Hawkesbury, says the utility’s vice-president of sustainability.

"We are proceeding and will be closing that transaction as soon as possible," said Robin McAdam at an energy conference in Halifax hosted by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council on Monday.

Nova Scotia Power and its partner, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, received regulator approval for the $208-million project two weeks ago but had been reviewing the decision, which had conditions attached stipulating any cost overruns must be paid by the utility’s shareholders, not customers.

The decision to proceed came three days before NewPage Port Hawkesbury’s parent company, NewPage Corp. of Ohio, releases its third-quarter financial results.

The paper company has been confident the project would go ahead and that it would receive an $80-million upfront payment from Nova Scotia Power for a 30-year-old boiler.

The utility intends to spend about $200 million, including $80 million to buy NewPage’s boiler and $93 million in construction costs.

NewPage has said the $80 million from the boiler sale will enhance its liquidity. The company has reported having $7 million in cash and $113 million available on a line of credit, but it also has a $3.4-billion debt.

Later Monday, Nova Scotia Power issued a news release stating the sale of the boiler is expected to "close in the near term."

The 60-megawatt power plant is expected to create 150 new jobs in northern Nova Scotia, primarily in the forestry business.

"This new biomass facility is important for NewPage, for the Port Hawkesbury mill and rural Nova Scotia," said Bill Stewart, NewPage Port Hawkesbury’s director of woodlands and strategic initiatives.

On Monday, McAdam defended the controversial project and the use of burning 650,000 tonnes of wood a year to fire a steam generator at NewPage’s mill in Cape Breton. The project has an in-service date of early 2013 and would account for about three per cent of Nova Scotia’s electrical generation.

The utility says the facility will burn stem wood and won’t include tree tops, stumps and branches from the forest floor, which are considered necessary in restoring nutrients to the soil so new trees can grow.

"Still, it’s evident that there is a lot public concern about using biomass as fuel for electricity. We certainly have not had our head in the sand as these concerns have been raised," said McAdam.

He said the utility has no interest in using a fuel source that isn’t sustainable.

"We fully appreciate the value of Nova Scotia’s forest from an environmental, recreational and economic perspective. Using biomass for electricity doesn’t conflict with these values."

McAdam said biomass is wood that has no other commercial use.

"Biomass is wood that needs to come out of the forest so the higher-value tree can grow and replace that diseased, crooked and knotty tree that isn’t doing anything."

NewPage, the utility’s largest customer, will be responsible for supplying fuel to the plant and will be utilizing about 1.1 per cent of the land it manages, said McAdam.

The deal between the two companies stated that if Nova Scotia Power gives notice to proceed after Sept. 30, the contract price will escalate by 0.2 per cent per month.

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board released its decision Oct. 14 and stated the most important part of the project is a contract worth $92.9 million covering engineering, procurement and construction costs. Any additional costs cannot be passed along to power customers on their bills.

Also, if there are capital cost overruns, the power company must come back before the board for another public hearing.

The utility says it needs the biomass project to proceed in order to meet the province’s renewable energy target of generating 10 per cent of its electricity from wind, tides or biomass by 2013.


http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1209878.html


NSP wants your power

New plan will see utility pay customers for surplus electricity


Nova Scotia Power wants to start paying customers for surplus electricity generated from renewable sources.

This is good news for one of the region’s largest landlords. Killam Properties Inc. wants to be able to install more and larger turbines at its properties around the province.

"That would encourage us to take a serious look at adding new turbines at areas where there is good wind," company president Philip Fraser said Monday.

This year, Killam installed two wind turbines at its 300-home trailer park in Lake Echo to generate electricity for the community’s street lighting, water supply and water treatment facilities.

"If we actually produce more, we would be offsetting our consumption and reducing our power bill," Fraser said.

He was reacting to Nova Scotia Power’s announcement that it has filed a proposal with the provincial Utility and Review Board to expand a program referred to as "net metering."

Net metering allows customers to generate electricity from a small renewable source to meet all or part of their own power requirements. Nova Scotia Power has offered this option to its customers since 1989, and more than 80 residential and business clients across the province participate, the utility says.

A new proposal would allow producers to generate one megawatt of electricity, up from 100 kilowatts, to reduce the amount of their power bills.

"Net metering is a great way for our customers to make a direct contribution to the renewable electricity transformation taking place in this province," said Robin McAdam, Nova Scotia Power’s vice-president of sustainability.

"We have supported expansion of the program for some time and are delighted to bring forward these enhancements," he said in a news release. "They were developed with input from government and other stakeholders to offer greater options and benefits for customers who wish to generate electricity for their own use."

Earlier this year, amendments were approved under the Electricity Act ordering Nova Scotia Power to enhance its metering program and file its proposal by Monday.


http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1209854.html