URB: Wind projects can jump queue

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter

A lineup of clean energy projects looking to hook up to Nova Scotia’s power grid was given the green light Tuesday, but with conditions by government regulators.

Nova Scotia Power Inc. asked its regulator, the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, to step in during the summer and allow seven wind projects to jump the queue in obtaining engineering studies needed for connecting to the power grid. The seven projects had won renewable energy contracts from NSP this spring,

While the regulator approved NSP’s request, the board stated in its decision that it has "concerns" about NSP’s process.

"Based on the evidence before the board, it appears that NSPI was aware of the potential problem during RFP (requests for proposals) process in 2007," the board stated in its nine-page decision. "NSPI chose to seek the board’s ruling to impose a temporary waiver, which has the potential to prejudice some of the projects in the queue."

Other wind developers complained to the board about NSP’s request and lack of consultation with the utility.

The board has directed NSP to meet with all developers no later than Nov. 17, 2008, and report back to the board no later than Dec. 15, 2008.

NSP had complained there was a logjam of requests before the provincial transmission system operator forinterconnection generation studies, which can take months to carry out.

Nova Scotia Power awarded contracts for renewable energy projects this spring in the hope of producing 246 megawatts of new renewable energy by 2010.

The province has mandated a standard of 130 megawatts of renewable energy by 2010.

Twenty-six interconnection requests, amounting to more than 1,390 megawatts, are in the generation interconnection queue, according to Nova Scotia Power.

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Link to latest NSPI Interconnection Request Queue: http://oasis.nspower.ca/documents/GIP_Queue.pdf

Lehman woes won’t hurt wind farm, company says

By STEVE PROCTOR Business Editor

Chronicle Herald

A backer of a $70-million wind farm on Digby Neck says the ill winds blowing through Wall Street won’t delay the project, even though one of the major players is affiliated with the troubled global investment bank Lehman Bros.

SkyPower, a 50 per cent partner in the Digby project, is identified on its website as a Lehman Bros. company. In news releases the renewable energy developer says it has been affiliated with the investment bank since 2007.

Lehman Bros. filed for bankruptcy protection this week, sparking a financial crisis that sent the markets into a tailspin.

Barry Zwicker, president of Scotian WindFields, the other major player in the 1,100-hectare wind park, said Tuesday he had been in touch with SkyPower representatives and has been assured it is business as usual.

"It’s unfortunate and it will cause some confusion for a while, but SkyPower is working away," he said.

Vikaas Rao-Aourpally, a principal with the Toronto firm, answered his office phone Tuesday but referred requests for information to media spokesman Aaron Peters. Mr. Peters didn’t return repeated calls Tuesday.

The wind park is to feature 20 General Electric wind turbines and generate enough energy to power 10,000 homes. The 1.5-megawatt units are to be installed during the summer of 2009 on either side of Highway 217 in the Rossway-Gullivers Cove area of Digby Neck, some 12 to 15 kilometres west of Digby.

The partnership has a 20-year purchase agreement with Nova Scotia Power for the wind-generated electricity

Mr. Zwicker said that as a result of SkyPower’s relationship with Lehman Bros. the group had been looking to the investment bank to play a lead role in financing, but now he doesn’t expect that to happen.

"We always had a fallback position," he said in a telephone interview. "We were never reliant on Lehman Bros. We always said we would make the best deal for the project."

He said the group would be looking for additional financing options, but aside from that the normal development activity was taking place. That work includes submitting an environmental assessment application to the federal and provincial governments over the next 10 days and finalizing the layout of the turbines on the site.

Terry Thibodeau, the economic development officer responsible for renewable energy with the Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency, said he had no concerns about the future of the project.

"This project’s going forward. SkyPower is not totally funded by Lehman Bros.," he said. "As far as I understand, it’s still a go."

Down on wind

Just as global warming has become a reality to us all, so has the world’s energy crisis. It is time, we, as responsible governments, business corporations and private individuals, do our part to alleviate the situation.

The government is promoting the establishment of wind farms across the province. This is a huge step in becoming more environmentally friendly. Or is it?

I’m not convinced it is or ever will be. Natural gas has proven to be a sham to the people of Nova Scotia. I predict our "green electricity" will be also. These ventures always have a heavy impact on our environment and individuals. We must not be so naive. We must be able to recognize what is right for the planet; therefore will benefit all of us.

My wife and I live in the country and off the grid. That means we make our own electricity (by the sun). Conservation is very important to us. So is peace and serenity, which was taken from us, when, over two yeas ago, two commercial wind turbines were placed three-quarters of a kilometre from our house.

There are times when the relentless roar from these things force us to evacuate our home and return when the wind subsides. If I could see that they benefit the locality and the province, I would not be writing this letter. If these wind farms must exist, then please have the consideration to place them properly or convince me that they are needed at all!

Ward Brubacher, Millsville,

Pictou Co.

From Voice of the People

Chronicle Herald

Wind project still on

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter, Chronicle Herald
Wed. Sep 10 - 6:49 AM

Owners of a proposed 22-turbine wind energy project in Colchester County will proceed despite the company’s recent financial troubles.

The president of EarthFirst Canada Inc., Linda Chambers, confirmed the company is reviewing its three operations, two projects in British Columbia and the proposed 45-megawatt Nuttby Mountain wind energy project in Colchester County.

The "strategic review" was ordered by the company’s board of directors in late August after it was revealed in July that its Dokie 1 wind energy project in B.C. incurred cost overruns of $35 million, and revised wind energy estimates meant that increased project financing would be required.

She said all operations are being reviewed to maximize shareholder value, but the board of directors has endorsed the Nuttby Mountain project.

"Let me assure you our commitment to Nuttby Mountain has not changed at all," Ms. Chambers said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

In the past week, EarthFirst submitted the Nuttby project for a federal environmental assessment, and the company is negotiating deals for wind turbines and warranty agreements, she said.

The complete installation of the turbines is scheduled for 2009.

EarthFirst announced in March it would buy the Nuttby Mountain project from Atlantic Wind Power Corp. and its partner, Cobequid Area Wind Farms.

At the time of purchase, EarthFirst paid $75,000 cash and $374,000 in shares for the Nuttby project. The deal went through in May, when shares were trading in the range of $1.80. The stock crashed this summer to 22 cents a share and is now trading around 40 cents, said Ms. Chambers. Those same shares are now worth around $83,100. She blames the drop on the news of Dokie I’s cost overruns and a gap in financing.

"Because it was our first flagship project, it was not a good thing to have happened," Ms. Chambers said. "The economy is very volatile, and when you have a misstep like that, the market reacts very strongly. We have an obligation to shareholders to maximize opportunities."

This spring, Nova Scotia Power announced it will purchase electricity from the Nuttby Mountain project for an undisclosed price.

The wind farm will cost $90 million to $100 million and will be located about four kilometres north of the village of Nuttby and six kilometres east of Earltown. The turbines will produce enough energy to power about 15,000 homes.

EarthFirst was formed last December after a restructuring of Creststreet, a co-owner of the Pubnico Point wind farm.

Residents: Turbines closer in revised proposal

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter , Chronicle Herald
Tue. Sep 9 - 4:46 AM

Residents in Pictou County were promised that turbines at a proposed wind farm would be several kilometres away from their homes, but it turns out the blades will be swooshing closer to their doorsteps.

"If they were going to do what they said, not one person would be complaining, but now that has changed," Baileys Brook resident June MacDonald said in a telephone interview Monday.

Ms. MacDonald is upset with the "inconsistencies" in the plan to locate wind turbines at Shear Wind’s proposed $150-million wind farm near Merigomish, Pictou County.

Shear Wind officials told residents in the area last year that the 30 wind turbines would be no closer than three or four kilometres from homes, she said.

Last week, residents discovered Shear Wind would be hooking up turbines closer than originally promised after the company filed a detailed project description, including a turbine map, with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

The company is seeking environmental approval from the federal agency.

Mrs. MacDonald and her husband, Rod, have lived in Baileys Brook on a 500-acre beef farm for the past 34 years.

Under the plan for the Glen Dhu wind farm, she said the couple will be able to see spinning blades from their home as well as a blinking strobe light on a wind tower.

"I’m not against wind turbines and we need alternate sources of energy," said Mrs. MacDonald. "But my biggest concern is the health" issues.

She said her husband suffers from migraines and having a bright flashing light coming through the windows each night would trigger the headaches.

Kristen Overmyer, another Baileys Brook resident, will now live the closest to the wind turbines. A turbine will be less than one kilometre from his house.

"This is egregious," said Mr. Overmyer. "It will be looking right over our house."

Ian Tillard, Shear Wind’s chief operating officer, said 17 of the 30 turbines will be less than two kilometres from homes.

The wind turbine near Mr. Overmyer’s house is being moved closer to avoid the flight pattern of raptors, including vultures, hawks, eagles, ospreys and falcons, said Mr. Tillard.

He said the location of the wind turbines was determined after Shear Wind won its bid in April 2008 to produce 60 megawatts for Nova Scotia Power.

Mr. Tillard said the location of the turbines was determined by the proximity to a powerful transmission line.

Previously, company president Mike Magnus said the turbines would be three to four kilometres away from homes.

Mr. Tillard said Monday those statements were based on using a second transmission line that wasn’t possible.

"The important issue here is we have spent a fair amount of time on design and noise mapping," said Mr. Tillard.

While Shear Wind has moved the location of some turbines, they are still within the bylaws passed by the local municipal council requiring turbines to be at least 600 metres from homes.

Shear Wind will hold open houses on Wednesday and Thursday at the Merigomish fire station and on Sept. 17 and 18 at the Lismore and District Community Centre.

The deadline for making public comments to the agency is Sept. 19.

Scaled-down wind farm granted permit

Number of turbines reduced, but area landowners 'generally don’t like these things’
RAISSA TETANISH
Amherst Daily News

AMHERST – With many residents along the Gulf Shore opposed to the idea, a 17-turbine wind farm for the area was recently granted a development permit.
Originally, the proposed Pugwash Wind Farm was planned with up to 30 turbines, but scaled back to 17 after concerns from some of the area residents.
“The main reason we scaled it back would be in order to move it back (from the shoreline),” said Clair Peers, director of Cobequid Area Wind Farms Inc., a joint venture company owned by Atlantic Wind Power Corporation Ltd. and Cobequid Wind Power Inc.
Cumberland County Municipality has a bylaw in place restricting wind turbines to be placed within 500 meters, or three times the turbine height, from a residence. Cobequid Wind Farms Inc. took the bylaw one step further.
“Even though we were in compliance with the bylaw at 500, because there was still a lot of concern with them being too close, and people were asking for as much as a kilometre, we said that when we would scale it back, we would look at that, and we did,” Peers said, noting one of the property owners negotiating with the company backed out, leaving them with less property.
Following the development permit approval, Peers met with several people with concerns, including Lisa Betts.
“Certainly the people who were meeting with (Peers) made it very clear that even this amended project was not what we were looking for,” said Betts.
“By trying to move a few turbines back by a few hundred meters is not paying attention to what we are saying — that this affects the whole neighborhood, not just the immediate people.”
Betts said the wind farm will affect everyone, directly or indirectly.
“It is our contention that people generally don’t like these things and certainly wouldn’t choose to build a house or retirement home, or come on holidays to an area that has these things flapping around in the background.
“This is ultimately going to affect our economy.”
Although the project has been granted a development permit, a buyer for the power has yet to come on board. Peers says Cobequid Wind Farms Inc. did not make an application with Nova Scotia Power for this project.
“We felt the timing was not right and that we were not suitably prepared. We took the extra time to revisit our plans and make some adjustments,” he said.
“We were really unsettled with the public consultation process. There were a lot of unhappy people and we weren’t sure what the real consensus was with the property owners here.”
Next for the project, says Peers, is another public consultation with property owners involved. He acknowledges a petition started by Betts and other concerned residents, but feels surveying the property owners will paint a better picture for the company’s purposes and the purpose of the environmental assessment.
Betts says of the 1,200 signatures on the petition, those that didn’t sign in opposition to any wind farm, not just the amended proposal, are those property owners involved, their friends and neighbours.
“Of all the people that live in the area and live along the Gulf Shore, we have about 70 to 80 per cent that don’t want this wind power. Take those (property owners, friends and neighbours) out of the picture and the percentage gets even higher,” Betts said.


http://www.amherstdaily.com/index.cfm?sid=168968&sc=58

Gulf Shore Association remains opposed to controversial wind farm project

Darrell Cole
Amherst Daily News
September 2

Lisa Betts is not surprised the backer of a controversial wind farm on the Gulf Shore is not ready to throw in the towel.

Then again, her association isn’t ready to back down either.

“We’re not surprised, but he has to say the project is going ahead,” Betts said of news that Atlantic Wind Farms is still planning a scaled back version of its wind farm near Pugwash.

“As much as he says he’s going ahead with it, the more our resolve to stop it.”

Betts’ Gulf Shore Association waged a bitter battle against Charles Demond’s wind farm project that would have seen between 20 and 27, 100-metre-tall turbines erected between the Gulf Shore Road and the Irishtown Road on the outskirts of Pugwash.

The battle that pitted grassroots residents against Demond’s corporation garnered national headlines when Anne Murray entered the fray against the wind farm.

Murray has a cottage along the Gulf Shore, and while the turbines would have been a considerable distance from her property, she felt she had to speak out against it.

Betts is questioning Demond’s claim that his project still has a lot of support in the Pugwash area. A petition circulated along the Gulf Shore opposing the wind farm had the support of 80 per cent of the population.

Even if Demond’s company brings forward a proposal with fewer turbines, Betts said her group would likely oppose it because it doesn’t feel the wind farm belongs on the Gulf Shore.

“What’s going to happen is people who own property there are going to sell it, and those who are considering buying property there won’t,” she said.

“It will be ruinous to the local economy because the people who spend their summers there won’t come back.”

As much as she continues to oppose the project, Betts said she is willing to sit down with Demond and representatives from Atlantic Wind Farms to clear the air.

However, she said, that doesn’t mean her group will back down any time soon.

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This article seems to be missing from the Amherst Daily News website archives. I was able to find it on Windwatch at http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/09/02/gulf-shore-association-remains-opposed-to-controversial-wind-farm-project/

CAWF gets Development Permit

Cobequid Area Wind Farms Inc (CAWF) has been issued a Development Permit by the Municipality of Cumberland County.

The next part of this two step process is to produce a plot plan for this 17-turbine wind farm.

Yesterday there was a meeting with Clair Peers of CAWF and representatives from the Gulf Shore Preservation Association, the Village Commission, The Pugwash Chamber of Commerce and a County Councilor. The provisional map of the current manifestation of the wind farm was for our viewing, but not for copying.

It is, ostensibly, the same farm as it looked after properties were bought that reduced the number of turbines from 27 to 18. The only difference is that it is pushed back by a whopping 200-300 metres across the Irishtown Road and towards the Miller Road and involves more property owners.

These turbines would be over 400 feet high. Pushing them back a few hundred feet across a fairly flat landscape isn't going to make one hill of beans difference in their effects on the area generally.

All of those attending the meeting made the point (again) to Clair that this is simply the wrong location for an industrial power plant complex.

This is a residential, recreational location which is a destination tourist and retirement area. The local economy is highly dependent on our summer residents. These people are not the one-time drive-by tourists the wind company claim would be attracted to the area. Those people are not likely to stop for any more than a few minutes.

Our seasonal visitors are here for weeks and months at a time. They buy locally. They employ trades people to build and maintain their retirement homes. Most local stores and businesses operate on a very narrow profit margin and cannot afford to lose any summertime income. It cannot be overstated how important these people are to us and our economy.

Our petition of 1200 ,which includes 70-80% of the Gulf Shore property owners, very clearly demonstrates that visitors, year round and seasonal residents oppose this plan. Their opposition is for all kinds of reasons, but in the end all that matters is that an overwhelming majority does not want this to happen to their treasured part of the North Shore.

The drivers of our economy oppose the plan. We cannot afford to lose what they bring to our area. Please don't drive them away from here.