NSP can buy 22 wind turbines
But no OK yet for $120m wind farm
Nova Scotia Power was given the go-ahead Tuesday to purchase 22 wind turbines even though its regulator hasn’t approved the $120-million wind farm where they would be used.
The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board said it has "no objection" to the power company purchasing the wind turbines, but stressed their decision should not be considered by the utility, in any way, as approval of the proposed Colchester County wind farm.
The board released the decision just four days after the power company asked for immediate approval to purchase the turbines.
"Nova Scotia Power has in the past undertaken expenditures . . . at shareholder risk and so there is precedent for proceeding in this manner," the board said.
The utility filed its application to develop a 45-megawatt project at Nuttby Mountain, Colchester County, with the board on Friday. It would begin operation late next year.
Located about 20 kilometres north of Truro, the project would include purchasing and erecting 22 turbines rated at 2.05 megawatts each, construction of a new substation and transmission lines.
The power company asked the board to approve the project by Dec. 1 and wanted immediate approval to proceed with project construction, which included ordering the turbines.
Before the board makes a decision on the wind farm, it is requesting written comment from parties interested in the project by Nov. 3, 2009.
In April, the utility purchased the development rights for Nuttby Mountain from the financially troubled EarthFirst Canada Inc. of Calgary.
The power company said its design for the Nuttby Mountain wind 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.
"The Nuttby Mountain project responds in a significant way to our customers’ desire for more clean energy," Robin McAdam, NSP vice-president of sustainability, said in a news release.
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 Nova Scotia Power.
At Maryvale, north of Antigonish, an additional six megawatts of independently produced wind power will be online by the end of this year.
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