Nova Scotia Power has been given the green light to develop a $120-million wind farm in Colchester County.
The provincial Utility and Review Board approved the 22-turbine project on Nuttby Mountain in a decision released Monday.
"The board . . . is satisfied that the project is in the best interest of the ratepayers and should proceed," the board wrote in a 23-page decision.
Nova Scotia Power customers will pay for the project through power bills.
However, government regulators rejected the company’s request to be able to sell 51 per cent interest in the wind farm.
Nova Scotia Power had hoped to get advance approval for the sale, which would allow the wind-generated electricity to be counted toward the 2011 independent green energy target. (The utility has to buy five per cent of its electricity from independent energy sources by that date.)
The review board argued that it is up to the courts to decide on the interpretation of provincial legislation, and a ruling now would be "simply premature."
Nova Scotia Power originally selected the 45-megawatt wind project as part of its request for proposals in 2007 for renewable energy from independent power producers.
Financial troubles drove the developer — EarthFirst Canada Inc. of Calgary — into bankruptcy and Nova Scotia Power picked up the development rights in April.
The utility filed an application with the board in September, asking for a decision by today to get the project back on schedule and allow the wind farm to qualify for federal government incentives.
To qualify, the project must be under construction this year and be completed by March 31, 2011.
Nova Scotia Power filed a letter on Nov. 20 saying the federal government has agreed that the Nuttby Mountain project qualifies for $14 million in incentives.
The power company filed evidence that it could produce electricity cheaper than the wind farm’s original proponent could, and power customers would save $7.3 million over the 23-year lifespan of the project.
The wind farm project will include buying and erecting the turbines about 20 kilometres north of Truro and building a new substation and transmission lines.
Also on Monday, Nova Scotia Power’s parent company, Emera Inc. of Halifax, officially took a stake in another troubled wind farm in Digby.
Emera made an undisclosed offer to buy a 50 per cent interest in the project held by SkyPower Corp., a partner to Scotian WindFields. SkyPower Corp. entered into creditor protection when owner Lehman Brothers went bankrupt.
The deal was finalized Monday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and shows that a numbered company owned by Emera put in the offer for the assets.
Dan Roscoe, Scotian WindFields’ chief operating officer, said the project can now move forward.
"It’s certainly nice to have this stabilized and we are anxious to get going on the work," he said.
Emera spokeswoman Sasha Irving has stated it was easier for Emera to make the purchase than Nova Scotia Power, which would have had to seek regulatory approval.
Construction is expected to begin in January with electricity generated by next November. The 30-megawatt wind project has a power-purchase provision with Nova Scotia Power, signed in May 2008.
Thirty megawatts of electricity can power 10,000 homes.
The Digby wind park is key for the utility to meet government’s renewable energy target of producing 25 per cent of its electricity from green sources by 2015.
13 comments:
There is a new US Department of Energy study of real estate prices near wind farms on line.
John McManus
who's going to pay when these have to be shut down as knowledge of their environmental health effects becomes of more concern than the fast buck these will generate?
Dear anonymous:
A quick glance at this blog over the past few months will show that, rather than fast bucks, money is hard to come by for the wind industry.
After the collapse of Goldman Sacks etc. financiers have been unwilling to lend for turbines. Wind farms produce a steady flow of low profit over decades. Larger , faster returns are available elsewhere resulting in the difficulty borrowing money.
The " money men" myth is just one of the complaints made by anti-environmentalists that is nonsense.
John McManus
Did anyone see TIME TEAM last night. This is a great programme.
They dug a hillside in Wales with the turbines of a wind farm turning behind them. You couldn't hear a whoose, let alone a jet plane.
Now I know some will say directional mikes and filtering, but you could hear lots of ambient. Wind, rain, background voices, trowels, backhoes etc were all audable.
John McManus
..maybe the audio editors added a sound track taken from some other location to make it appear as something else.
...it's done all the time in TV fantasy land!
John
Your right on the mark!
They should put those contraptions in industrial areas so the background noise could mask out the sounds of these
...that "whoosh ,whoosh, whoosh" sound.
I should think it bloody annoying to have to listen to that constant 'whoosing sounds for hours on end"
never mind having to sleep next to it.
Why it would be like a tap dripping
...and you know what that can do to a good nights rest.
Cheers
Dear anonymous:
The area described where ambient Hid any rotor noise was a beatiful Welch hillside, far from the madding crowd.
Worldwide, agricultural areas have proven ideal for wind farms. They take up little space , so agriculturs can continue and contribute income to troubled farms.
John McManus
John McManus
Try www.canwea.ca/wind-energy/talkingaboutwind_e.php.
When I read that Nina Pierpont thinks infrasound enters through the mouth goes down to the diaphram and upsets the liver .I laughed out loud. Talk about eating your words.
Those of you who will complain that Big Wind commissioned this survey should start lobbying. The Cato cohort and the Heartland hacks who spend big bucks on PR peaheads who send talking points out through sympathetic ( or paid) bloggers. When they put some of the oil and coal money they get into real research , call me.
John McManus
Merry Christmas.
John McManus
Merry Christmas to you too, John
:)
John
Does Nina know if this infared sound can get up your bum?
We don't want to catch ....mc-ANUS-itus,
the "make it up mcManus syndrome"
Word on the street is that it makes you a psychopathic liar and you always tryin to deceive people just like the good ol' boys in www.CANWEA.ca in commissioning their drinkin buddies to tell us there's no credible evidence so they can hurry up and all make money before the lenders wake up and stop lending.
It's about time we saw some well reasoned comment on this blog.
John McManus
For once I have to agree with you, John.
Please folks, lets keep the personal attacks out of the comments section here, or at least save it for the big companies with all the thick skinned lawyers.
At the same time, there has to be some credence given to so many stories of ill health from so many different places from around the world. These are just the ones we've heard about.
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