Nova Scotia Power Incorporated looks to be investing further into the wind energy generating business (see Herald stories copied below). Like so many vultures, NSPI is cleaning up the remnants of wind energy projects that have fallen by the wayside during this recent economic crisis.
The conditions of the contracts with NSPI that these projects are required to meet make them difficult to be financially successful in the first place. The Recession, and ensuing collapse of some of the financial backers, put the final nails in the coffins. These conditions make these projects profitable only to NSPI and for any developers who can hang on to a contract as project managers.
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NSP throws projects a lifeline
Published: 2009-09-11
Utility would buy stakes in four stalled wind power developments
Nova Scotia Power wants to kick-start several stalled wind power developments by buying a minority stake in them.
"We’re trying to get all of the projects that aren’t moving ahead as quickly as they would like, to get going," Robin Mc-Adam, the power company’s vice-president of sustainability, told reporters Thursday outside a meeting about the provincial government’s new targets for using energy from renewable sources.
Nova Scotia Power signed six long-term wind energy agreements last year but the collapse of the credit markets has put the future of four of them in jeopardy.
Mr. McAdam said it’s too early to say whether any of the developers will take the company up on its offer.
The two projects that are proceeding are the $12-million Maryvale wind turbine development in Antigonish County and RMSenergy’s plan to connect 34 turbines in the Cobequid Range 25 kilometres west of New Glasgow.
How much Nova Scotia Power would spend on moving the other four projects forward has yet to be determined, Mr. McAdam said.
"That’s going to depend on how many people are interested and how all that goes," he said. "It’s too early to know how much money will be involved."
The company’s investment would be recovered through customers’ power rates, and that would require regulatory approval, Mr. McAdam said.
"I think people understand how fundamental the economic turmoil has been that we’ve gone through," he said. "I think the public would like to see the projects going ahead. We know our customers want more renewables, so we’re trying to respond to that customer request."
Earlier this year, Nova Scotia Power gobbled up one of the province’s troubled independent wind power projects.
A proposed $90-million wind energy farm in Colchester County was put up for sale last October after its Calgary developer sought bankruptcy protection. EarthFirst Canada Inc. had announced it was not putting any more money into the wind farm, located at Nuttby Mountain, 20 kilometres north of Truro.
EarthFirst said it sold the project to Nova Scotia Power for $800,000, minus working capital and other adjustments. In fact, the power company said it would get a cheque for $300,000 as it held a security deposit of $1.125 million in case the wind farm did not proceed.
Last year, EarthFirst signed a 25-year agreement with Nova Scotia Power to sell wind-generated electricity to the power company.
Mr. MacAdam said work is proceeding on the project, with the regulatory filings to be made later this month.
Federal environmental approval, which would take advantage of financial incentives worth million of dollars for renewable energy projects, is underway, Mr. McAdam said.
The Nuttby wind farm would have a capacity of 45 megawatts and produce enough electricity to power about 15,000 homes. The original proposal included up to 22 wind turbines but the recent plan has 15 larger turbines.
New targets will have the province generating one-quarter of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015.
The target could rise to as high as 40 per cent by 2020.
Nova Scotia Power now generates 10 to 12 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1141930.html
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NSP seeks OK for 22 Nuttby turbines
With URB approval, company will spend $120 million on Pictou County wind farm
Nova Scotia Power is seeking regulatory approval to spend $120 million to construct a 22-turbine wind farm in Pictou County.
The utility filed its application Friday with the Utility and Review Board to develop the 45-megawatt project at Nuttby Mountain, Colchester County. It would begin operation late next year.
"The Nuttby Mountain project responds in a significant way to our customers’ desire for more clean energy," said Robin McAdam, NSP vice-president of sustainability, in a news release Friday.
"We are excited about being able to undertake this development and demonstrate our commitment to meeting government targets and public expectations regarding renewable energy."
NSP is also asking the board to give the green light for the project by Dec. 1, and wants immediate approval to proceed with project construction, which includes ordering turbines.
In addition to the Nuttby Mountain project, two other wind projects are underway in Nova Scotia by independent power producers.
RMSenergy of Westville is building a 51-megawatt farm on Dalhousie Mountain in Pictou County, and will sell the electricity to NSP. At Maryvale, north of Antigonish, an additional six megawatts of independently produced wind power will be online by the end of this year.
The wind developments are critical to moving Nova Scotia beyond its heavy reliance on dirty, coal-fired electrical generation.
The Nuttby Mountain project, about 20 kilometres north of Truro, would include purchasing and erecting 22 turbines rated at 2.05 megawatts each, construction of a new substation, and transmission interconnection.
The regulatory filing comes a day after Mr. McAdam said the utility is willing to buy a minority stake in three delayed wind projects that were scheduled to start producing wind generated electricity by the end of this year.
Mr. McAdam said it was too early to know if any of the companies would take the utility up on its offer.
In April, NSP purchased the development rights for Nuttby Mountain from the financially troubled EarthFirst Canada Inc. of Calgary.
NSP says the design for the Nuttby Mountain farm will generate electricity at a cost that is more than 10 per cent lower than what customers would have paid through the contract with EarthFirst.
The turbines will produce enough energy to power approximately 15,000 homes. The project has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100,000 tonnes annually.
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