Amherst wind project now stopped: Acconia

BY DARRELL COLE, TRANSCONTINENTAL MEDIA
The Nova Scotia Business Journal

CHICAGO – The multi-million-dollar wind farm development proposed near Amherst will not be going ahead this year. Eric Schneider of Acciona Energy confirmed Friday the 30-megawatt wind farm that was supposed to go into service in November near Exit 3 of the Trans-Canada Highway will not be constructed this year.

“The project is suffering from the economic downtown. Liquidity for capital projects is scarce right now and this project is extremely capital intensive,” Schneider said. “The in-service date for that project was scheduled for November 2009. It doesn’t look like we're going to hit that and we don't have a new date.”

Acciona's proposal to erect 20 turbines on the marsh near Amherst was one of those selected by Nova Scotia Power last year as part of its pledge to use greener energy sources. The project, which includes 20 turbines, is expected to produce enough electricity to meet the power needs of 10,000 homes.

Schneider said the economic reality of the recession, coupled with volatile currency and skittish markets, is making it much more expensive to complete such large capital projects and it's making it very difficult to get financing. “Companies have to look for other ways of getting projects like this financed, whether it’s bringing in new partners or looking other options,” he said. “We’re looking at all those things.”

This is the second time Acciona has attempted to develop a wind farm near Amherst. A similar project was killed in December 2006 because rising costs meant the project was no longer viable. The company resubmitted a proposal to Nova Scotia Power in 2007 during the most recent request for proposals and entered into a 25-year power purchase agreement with the power corporation last year.

Acciona was also expected to develop windfarms across the marsh in Aulac as well as in Lameque, N.B. Both of those projects are also delayed. The Aulac project is supposed to include 43 turbines generating 64.5 megawatts - enough electricity to power 10,300 homes.

Schneider said the company is continuing to work on all three projects on things like acquiring easements and permits, but won't move ahead with construction until market conditions improve. "The permitting work is work that has to be done anyway. The hard work now will be finding the creative solutions to make the economics work and that's what we're really focused on right now," he said.

Stacey Pineau of Nova Scotia Power said the company is not aware that Acciona is not going ahead with the project this year. "I don't believe we've been formally made aware of any change to the schedule," Pineau said later Friday. "We still have our contracts in place and as far as we are aware everything is moving ahead according to the contract." – Amherst Daily News

http://www.novascotiabusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?sid=234673&sc=107&utm_source=ConstantContact.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyBuzz_20090323

Greens: Growth trumping ecology

When will government - of all political stripes - start to understand that it is the exploitation of the environment that has got us into this mess in the first place?

So what is their remedy? Exploit it some more!

Granted, this new move may skip around some duplication, but Environmental Assessments acted as safeguards for the Environment, which seems to be the first victim to "growth" and thus deserves such safety nets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prentice accused of using failing economy to sidestep environmental assessments

By ALISON AULD The Canadian Press

Published: 2009-03-21

Conservationists accused Jim Prentice of gutting the environmental review process in favour of jobs Friday, saying his plan to excuse certain projects from federal scrutiny will endanger sensitive habitat and wildlife.

Members of several ecological groups confronted the federal environment minister at a funding announcement in Halifax and said Ottawa is focusing on job creation and economic growth at the expense of environmental protections.

Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre said the minister’s plan to limit the number of public projects that will undergo federal environmental assessments runs counter to increasing international efforts to protect threatened ecosystems.

"This government doesn’t have a very good environmental track record, so when they take the axe to this act we don’t have a lot of confidence," he said.

"I have a somewhat dim view of the environmental assessment process and it could be improved, but you don’t improve it by gutting it."

The assertions are the latest from critics who claim the Conservatives are simply using the economy as an excuse to weaken the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and greatly reduce the number of reviews done every year.

Prentice had said earlier that he was surprised to learn the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency does about 7,000 assessments a year. That is in addition to reviews conducted by provinces and municipalities.

Reports leaked this week said the department is interested in cutting that annually to as little as 200.

John Baird, the federal minister in charge of infrastructure, said last month that the streamlining would eliminate 90 per cent of the reviews Ottawa does by instead relying on the provincial assessments.

On Friday, Prentice said it’s not yet clear which projects will be exempt from the federal process, but ones not thought to have any negative environmental impact — like a "green" wastewater facility — would be excused.

He insisted the "streamlining" would create jobs and speed up projects linked to Ottawa’s $12-billion infrastructure spending that could get bogged down in the review process.

"We need to make sure that the money we’re investing is invested quickly in public infrastructure," he said. "This will expedite the process (and) eliminate the duplication."

But conservation groups said they weren’t consulted on the issue and will be left in the dark on what projects won’t undergo any kind of federal assessment.

Gretchen Fitzgerald of the Sierra Club said they will know far less about how industrial development affects the environment and endangered species. Citing a quarry project in Digby, she said a key question involved its impact on the rare North Atlantic right whale.

"A lot of those issues about end species will not be discussed if you deregulate the environmental assessment act," she said.

Butler said Prentice and the federal government as a whole are using the recession as a justification for dismantling the federal act and other protections that stand in the way of business.

"I think it was highly opportunistic," he said. "They use it as a cover to make these changes . . . so we’re worried."

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1112416.html

Power to the people

Over this past long, lonnnnng winter we have heard very little of what is going on in the wind energy industry in this Province.

Some appear to be dead-in-the-water (Nuttby), some are delayed (Glen Dhu) and some have been mysteriously extra quiet (Amherst). But now Spring is here, and thus the advent of construction season. I expect we will be hearing about the various wind energy projects planned for Nova Scotia very soon.

There has been some news and comments from others more recently. So, while we are waiting for some news from NS and get warmed up for the season, I will post some of the more interesting or contentious here.

The piece below is from The Economist and was seen in today's Chronicle Herald Business section.

When it comes to something like the electrical grid, what the Americans plan will have to involve Canada too. The electrical grid blatantly requires updating and what we need, as mentioned below, is better integration of systems, metering and conservation.

As this relates to wind energy, better integration will allow for more wind energy. Improved infrastructure will allow for wind energy generating plants to be located in appropriate locations that adversely impact the environment (including humans) the least.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Power to the people

‘Smart’ new electric grid announced for America’s future

From The Economist

The Illinois Institute of Technology has always exemplified efficient design. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a master modernist, filled its Chicago campus with simple rectangular buildings. Critics quipped that IIT’s only church spire was the chimney of its power plant.

It is fitting, then, that IIT should herald a new era of efficiency. With the help of the Galvin Electricity Initiative, it is adopting the electric grid of the future. The hope is that the rest of the country will soon have one, too.

Electrocrats have been plugging the "smart grid" for years. Now others have joined them. Barack Obama’s stimulus package contains about $4.5 billion in grants for smart-grid investments and regional demonstrations.

GE is promoting the smart grid with ads that show a scarecrow singing "If I only had a brain" from The Wizard of Oz while bouncing along an old power line.

In January Obama declared that a smart grid could "save us money, protect our power sources from blackout or attack, and deliver clean, alternative forms of energy to every corner of our nation" — grand goals indeed.

America’s power system has changed remarkably little over the past century, with centralized utilities delivering electricity to passive consumers. A smart grid would use digital technology to collect, communicate and react to data, making the system more efficient and reliable.

For example, sensors would help utilities locate problems and fix them quickly — power cuts now cost businesses more than $100 billion each year. A nimble grid would integrate electricity from both predictable sources, such as coal, and fickle ones, such as the sun and wind.

Meters, to monitor both use and prices, would give consumers more control over their electricity bill. Advocates predict that some consumption would move to cheaper, off-peak hours, easing congestion and reducing the need for new infrastructure. Consumers would save money and emissions would fall.

Installing smart meters in 25 per cent of American homes, GE estimates, would be equivalent to removing 1.7 millions cars from the roads. Plug-in hybrids, meanwhile, could charge at night, when demand is low, and even pump power back to the grid while parked during the day.

The pilot at IIT is one of many. Xcel Energy, a utility, is transforming Boulder, Colo., into what it calls the world’s first "smart grid" city. The smart grid, however, should not be confined to pilots. But the problem is figuring out how to scale up.

Advocates have many tasks, not least of which is convincing consumers that a smart grid will lower their costs, not raise them. Changing regulations, meanwhile, is even thornier. For utilities, reducing consumption means reducing revenues, hardly an appealing prospect.

The stimulus encourages rewarding utilities for efficiency, but it is local commissions that must change the rules, and they may be wary of what is still seen as a risky investment.

Illinois’ regulatory commission approved the installation of up to 200,000 smart meters in 2009. Wider investments, however, await a two-year cost-benefit study.

At the national level, standards are needed so that innovations can interact seamlessly. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the Commerce Department, is expected to present only a rough framework by the summer. The momentum for a smart grid continues to build. But God, as Mies liked to say, is in the details.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1112660.html

How green was my turbine

In lieu of anything new to report on developments (or not) of a wind energy development in Pugwash, following is a recent piece seen in the Globe and Mail.

This piece has engendered a lot of commentary from all points of view. The comments section, when one looks past the vitriol, has some interesting information.

Clearly, wind energy inspires a lot of conversation from all directions, sometimes with good, backed up and tested information, and sometimes not.

Whatever the point of view, at least people are talking, and are allowed to talk. Thankfully, we live in a country where that is possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How green was my wind turbine
MARGARET WENTE
February 26, 2009

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is nothing if not a visionary. He recently released a $2.2-million report, co-authored by intellectual glamourpuss Richard Florida, instructing us that the province's salvation lies in becoming more "creative." No specifics were supplied, but it sounded quite delightful. If only we can turn laid-off auto workers into art gallery owners, things will be swell!

This week, the future's looking even better, thanks to the Premier's fabulous new Green Energy and Green Economy Act. This visionary scheme will create 50,000 green jobs, more clean electricity and a healthier planet for our children. It doesn't get better than that.

"It's transformational," said John Kourtoff, CEO of Trillium Power Wind Corp., which wants to build a giant wind farm at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. "The Green Energy Act will serve as a turning point in Ontario's economic history." No doubt. It will also serve as a massive transfer of wealth to wind companies such as Trillium Power. The wind companies will get a guaranteed payment that will probably be at least twice what consumers are paying for their electricity now. The solar outfits will get an even bigger subsidy - maybe 10 times more.

Not surprisingly, wind companies from all over are lining up for a piece of the free money. Little citizens' groups have sprung up across the province to try to stop them from erecting 35-storey wind turbines in their backyards. But the Premier's energy minister, George Smitherman (a.k.a. The Enforcer), has declared that he will squash the NIMBYs like a bug.

I have wind turbines coming to my backyard, too. I wouldn't mind - if only they made sense. If only they could really help us break our addiction to coal and oil, cut our emissions etc. But they can't.

One problem with wind power is, it's not reliable. No wind, no power. No one has figured out how to store the energy from wind. That means you always need a backup source of conventional energy (natural gas, for example) to keep the lights from going out.

Wind power also eats up vast amounts of land (to say nothing of steel, cement and new transmission lines). To power a toaster, you need about 100 square metres of windy land, according to Rockefeller University's Jesse Ausubel. To power the city of New York, you'd need a wind farm the size of Connecticut.

But the real problem is this: Technologies succeed when they start to achieve economies of scale. That hasn't happened with renewables. Barack Obama's energy secretary, Stephen Chu, acknowledges that we need major scientific breakthroughs before wind, solar and biomass will become as cheap and easy to use as oil and coal. That's why Mr. Obama is planning to invest billions in basic energy research. "Everything you can think of that is a renewable - or somewhat more renewable - energy option has roadblocks to it, and needs a science solution," says George Crabtree, co-chair of a new U.S. Energy Department task force.

Right now, the best way to cut our dependence on fossil fuels is to focus on conservation. The trouble is, that's boring. A picture of a smart meter simply does not say "visionary." For that, you need a picture of happy little children frolicking among the wind turbines. Nor will conservation create 50,000 jobs. Better to pretend those laid-off auto workers will find creative new careers harvesting the wind.

"Ontario's Green Energy Act could propel the province past California as the most innovative North American leader in the renewable energy field," gushes renowned environmental activist Denis Hayes. For all our sakes, let's hope not. California invested heavily in renewables, until it ran out of energy and had to load up on natural gas in a hurry. Today, the state is disastrously broke, its power rates are astronomically high and manufacturers are leaving in droves. Twenty years from now, wind turbines, like ethanol, could well be obsolete. But hey! Every premier has got to have a vision.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090225.wcowent26/EmailBNStory/specialComment/home

Blustery forecast

Three of six projects expected to produce power by end of year; credit crunch affects others

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter

Halifax Chronicle Herald

Half of Nova Scotia’s six wind projects will be producing power by the end of this year, despite the collapse in the world credit markets, according to interviews conducted by The Chronicle Herald.

Two others will not meet this year’s deadline — one is in bankruptcy, the other has pushed its startup back to 2010. A third company with North American headquarters in Chicago remains uncertain.

The wind developments are critical to moving Nova Scotia beyond its heavy reliance on dirty, coal-fired electrical generation.

"It’s a nervous time and anything can happen but we are working our hardest to meet the 2009 deadline," said Reuben Burge, president of RMSenergy of Westville.

RMSenergy plans to install 34 wind turbines in the Cobequid Range, just 25 kilometres west of New Glasgow, and is the largest of the six wind projects.

Work has already begun on the site of this ambitious wind project with foundation holes being dug during the winter, and cement poured for turbine foundations, beginning April 1, said Mr. Burge.

RMSenergy will take delivery of the GE turbines this summer and then begin commissioning the turbines in August and September with plans to produce electricity by the end of December, he said.

Mr. Burge said his company purchased the turbines and raised the necessary capital before the credit crunch.

"It still has drastically affected our project with higher borrowing costs," said Mr. Burge.

RMSenergy was one of the six groups that signed long-term power agreements with Nova Scotia Power last year, all scheduled to come on stream in late 2009.

Last year, NSP contracted for 247 megawatts of power — enough power for 87,000 homes. When added to its existing wind farms this would account for 10 per cent of the province’s electricity by 2013.

The utility is required by provincial legislation to provide half that amount of power from renewable sources by 2010 as part of the province’s efforts to reduce pollution.

NSP executives have admitted they contracted nearly twice the wind power they needed to meet that deadline.

RMSenergy, along with Scotian Windfields and its partner SkyPower, and Renewable Energy Services Ltd. (RESL) confirmed they are on schedule to start producing green energy by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, EarthFirst Canada Inc. of Victoria, B.C., announced last November its wind energy project in Colchester County is in doubt after the struggling developer sought creditor protection and is restructuring the company.

To date, EarthFirst has submitted the Nuttby project for a federal environmental assessment. But last week the company filed court papers indicating funding for its wind projects, other than its one B.C. project, "will be discontinued and only minimal and critical payments will be made."

Shear Wind Inc. has pushed back the in-service date to 2010 of its $143-million to $160-million wind turbine park.

The Halifax company still has to secure financing for the Glen Dhu wind farm near New Glasgow and expects to have a deal within two months. It is also still awaiting regulatory approval for the wind park and to purchase 30 wind turbines.

Acciona Energy of Spain was not commenting on whether it will meet the 2009 deadline for its 20-turbine wind farm near Amherst.

"Well, it’s moving along," said Eric Schneider, Acciona spokesman, in a telephone interview from Chicago. "At this stage of the development we’re trying to secure permits and trying to meet the in-service date of 2009."

Meanwhile, RESL continues to proceed with its 12-turbine wind farm in Cape Breton.

"We’re working hard to make it," said Larry LeBlanc, a former oilman turned wind power entrepreneur. RESL has received all its necessary government permits and plans on starting construction in late spring and has contracted with German manufacturer Enercon for the turbines.

Scotian Windfields CEO Barry Zwicker remains confident the project will proceed and meet its contract by the end of 2009.

"We’re targeting for that date," said Mr. Zwicker.

Scotian Windfields and its partner, SkyPower, have purchased their turbines and expect

delivery this summer.

The group expects to file its environmental assessment paperwork this month.

The wind beneath their turbines

NSP vows to be supportive, flexible for wind farm developers
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter, Chronicle Herald
Wed. Jan 7 - 6:36 AM

Wind power backers who signed deals to sell electricity to Nova Scotia Power shouldn’t have trouble raising money, says the president of NSP’s parent com­pany.

“All of these contracts are ba­sically being done on the back of Nova Scotia Power’s balance sheet," Chris Huskilson, presi­dent of Emera Inc., told The Chronicle Herald’s editorial board Tuesday in Halifax. “Any­body telling me they can’t raise money on Nova Scotia Power’s balance sheet . . . I have a little trouble with that."

Mr. Huskilson said none of the companies have told NSP they are unable to raise the capital required for the multimillion­dollar projects. Several wind power develop­ers have expressed concern pub­licly over the past several months about financing drying up because of the global eco­nomic crisis. A Nova Scotia developer poised to build a $150-million wind turbine park next year near New Glasgow is looking for more time to get his project op­erating.

Mike Magnus, presi­dent of Shear Wind, has said the economic climate has made it difficult for wind farm develop­ers to raise money, and he is looking for an extension. Shear Wind signed a deal last year with NSP to provide 60 mega­watts of electricity — enough for 17,500 homes — starting in late 2009.

Financial challenges could mean the half-dozen wind pro­jects scheduled to start produc­ing electricity this year fall be­hind schedule.

NSP president Rob Bennett admitted Tuesday during the ed­itorial meeting that all of the wind power developers have met with utility officials about their financial difficulties, but none has “formally" said they cannot follow through.

“Every developer has asked us for flexibility," said Mr. Bennett, adding any extensions to con­tract deadlines would require the agreement of the provincial government, the utility and government regulators.

“We believe every one of these is a viable project. . . . We are doing everything that we can do to be supportive and helpful," said Mr. Bennett. He said it is a “perfect time" for wind projects to move for­ward — the cost of turbines is down 15 to 20 per cent, the price of steel used in the towers is down dramatically, and engi­neering firms are looking for work.

Mr. Bennett said if any of the developers are having trouble or missing any milestones for development, it will be revealed later this month when compa­nies start reporting quarterly results.

NSP has contracted for 247 megawatts of power — enough for 87,000 homes — which, add­ed to its existing wind farms, would account for 10 per cent of the province’s electricity by 2013.

The utility is required by pro­vincial legislation to provide half that amount of power from renewable sources by 2010 as part of the province’s efforts to reduce pollution.

Mr. Bennett said the utility oversubscribed in purchasing renewable energy in case one of the wind projects failed. “So if you have land, a turbine supplier and ultimately, a pow­er purchase agreement with a strong utility like ours, that is a complete project," said Mr. Ben­nett.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/9010071.html

Storm damages wind turbine

ERIC MCCARTHY
The Journal Pioneer
Summerside, PEI
26th Dec 2008

NORWAY – Norway resident Ethel McHugh got up from her chair Monday evening to investigate what she thought was a snowplow in her backyard.

“I was trying to figure out what was going on,” she said.

“I just went like this,” she said, placing her hand against the glass, “and as soon as my hand touched it, the vibration.”

That vibration stopped suddenly within about three minutes and it was not until the next day that she learned the likely cause of both the noise and the vibration.

Lloydie Shea gathers up some of the fibreglass debris that blew off a wind turbine blade during a wind storm. Company officials still have to determine the extent of the damage but they believe the strong wind was its cause. Eric McCarthy/Journal Pioneer

One of the blades of a Suez Energy North America V-90 wind turbine situated approximately 1,600 feet away, between her house and the Northumberland Strait, was damaged. Pieces were dangling from the blade and other pieces were strewn throughout a field, right up to her back door.

A Suez Energy North America crew scrambled on Christmas eve afternoon to gather up the debris before another snowfall rolled in to bury the fragments.

The debris was generally lightweight, narrow bands of fibreglass wrapping.

For McHugh’s brother, Lloydie Shea who lives in Anglo, the scattered debris is further confirmation that wind turbines have to be set back a greater distance from residential properties. Shea is a member of Save Our Unspoiled Landscapes, a group opposed to large-scale wind energy production in residential neighbourhoods.

The wind turbines had been shut down due to high wind earlier in the day.

Danni Sabota, from the company’s communication department in Houston said the turbines at Norway and West Cape were shut down around 11 a.m. Monday and were not manually turned back on until Tuesday afternoon.

The company is blaming the damage on a storm that battered Canada’s east coat. “That’s what we think is the situation: the bad storm, the bad winds coming through,” she said.

Sabota reported that blades on two of the three turbines in Suez Renewable Energy North America’s Norway wind park sustained some damage. She said specialists will be checking the turbines in the coming days to determine the extent of damage.

“It looks like there is some damage to the exterior, the fibreglass that covers the blades,” she said.

Specialists should be able to determine whether the blades can be repaired on location or they will have to be taken down for repairs. They might also be able to determine the cause of the damage.

Whether the blades were turning when the damage occurred had not been determined. Sabota said the turbines were offline at the time and the blades should not have been turning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What does it take for governments to understand that these things are dangerous?? These fragments flew 1600ft! That's nearly 500m. With a decent safety zone, that makes the 2km we have been asking for too close!