Merchant: Wind farm law stifles growth

By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau
Mon. Mar 29 - 4:53 AM

A new bylaw governing construction and location of wind turbines in Annapolis County could curtail economic development, says a Bridgetown businessman.

"The worry is that it will restrict wind farm development to an area of the county that is unpopulated and has no usefulness for that purpose," said Louis Falls, a bookstore owner and publisher of a local weekly newsletter.

Last week, county council passed final reading of an interim wind turbine bylaw that will allow development on South Mountain only.

The bylaw was designed to allow council a year to study the issue of wind turbines before allowing development throughout the county.

To date, there have been 13 building permits taken out by two developers to build wind farms on North Mountain, which has been determined to be the best location for wind turbines.

"It sounded like an exciting sort of development for Bridgetown that would directly benefit us with jobs and revenue and tax income," Falls said about the proposed developments.

"It’s been a struggle for most of the business here over the last number of years. We’ve been working to try to reverse the trend of outflow and attract more people to town."

He said the new bylaw appears to some residents to be a "moratorium" on wind farms.

"The South Mountain is considered unsuitable for any kind of wind farm development anyway, so no one will be applying for that," Falls said.

"We don’t understand why the county didn’t develop a bylaw similar to other municipalities, which details setbacks and other conditions developers would have to meet."

The interim bylaw could allow some development but requires developers to go to council to apply for an amendment, triggering a public consultation process.

Falls said the lengthy and complicated process of having to go through an elected council and public meeting process may deter developers from even applying. He said the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities has studied the issue of wind farms and provided guidelines.

"So it doesn’t seem that anything will be accomplished by council studying the issue. Annapolis County may be bypassed for any possible development."

There is a proposed wind farm development near the Hampton Mountain Road above Bridgetown on North Mountain. Renewable Energy Developers wants to build a 12-turbine farm there.

"We have someone who wants to bring economic development to the county, but what it looks like to us is that the county was trying to put a stop to it."

Annapolis County Warden Peter Newton said the new interim by-law is not meant to prohibit wind farm development but to allow council time to develop a bylaw that is appropriate for the county and ensure residents have input into the decisions.

"The development of this interim bylaw, which states that council will have to review (it) within one year, gives us time to research the issue further and create a bylaw that is appropriate for this county," Newton said in a news release.

"Council has already passed a motion to consider the creation of development zones on the North Mountain."

Newton said a series of public meetings will be held to allow input from residents. A new bylaw will be developed after council studies the issue and hears from the public, he said.

The first public meeting is scheduled for the Bridgetown Regional High School gymnasium April 14 at 7 p.m.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1174477.html

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Interestingly, this exact story ran again the next day with a new headline and byline time stamp (see bellow) . The version above engendered some interesting comments which I would be surprised to see reproduced for today's press.

Business owner: Wind rules too strict

By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau
Tue. Mar 30 - 4:53 AM

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1174665.html

Ice, big winds hobble wind farm

Output cut 20% in January, February
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Thu. Mar 25 - 4:54 AM

Mother Nature wreaked havoc this winter at one of the province’s largest wind farms.

Extreme winds, along with cold temperatures and a buildup of ice, crashed three test towers and halted power production at RMSenergy’s wind farm in Pictou County, said company president Reuben Burge in an interview in Halifax on Wednesday.

The heavy ice conditions stopped the blades from turning, resulting in a 20 per cent loss of production in January and February, he said.

"We have had a loss of production. It’s more than an average year for icing," said Burge. "It’s still a very good lesson to learn, so I am actually looking into blade heating technology."

The ice buildup on the 34 wind turbines meant the privately owned company had to shut down production some days, he said.

The growing pains came just a month after the 51-megawatt wind farm, located 25 kilometres west of New Glasgow, started producing electricity in December. When fully operating, the wind farm will provide enough energy to power 17,500 homes.

Burge said the problem was likely exacerbated by the high altitude of the turbines and the remote location.

To get the blades whirling, Burge and other employees rushed on March 6 to install a de-icing software program from the manufacturer in each turbine.

"It changes the blade angle and allows the turbine to still turn with the ice on. That seemed to be successful, although we didn’t have much testing time. We only had a few days of icing since then."

He said every wind developer allows for a percentage loss of overall yearly production.

"So far, we are still in check for the end-of-the-year goals. But this impact is all coming at once, so this means we just have to perform better for the rest of the year."

The 38-year-old entrepreneur isn’t deterred by the recent events. Burge wants to expand the $100-million wind farm and add seven to 10 more turbines on the site.

"We’re really pushing for that. We would like the support on that from Nova Scotia Power and the Department of Energy and the Utility and Review Board. We think the targets are at risk of not being met again for 2010 and 2011, and we’d like to be able to help out."

Burge is referring to environmental targets that Nova Scotia Power must meet of having 25 per cent of electricity generated from renewable energy sources by 2015.

RMSenergy was the only project of six that Nova Scotia Power signed contracts with two years ago that successfully supplied renewable energy to the utility by late 2009. The other wind developers couldn’t get the projects off the ground because of tight credit markets.

"Everybody was just as sure last year that their projects were going to come on line in February and March of 2009, and they didn’t succeed. They’re at huge risk for not meeting their target," said Burge.

He has yet to formally apply to install the turbines and said he hopes he doesn’t have to wait until Nova Scotia Power decides to issue a request for proposals.

"I could get everything pulled together for the end of this year but it would take somebody to put a big green light on it."

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1173844.html

N.S. confident in Trenton project

Benefits outweigh risks of investing in turbine plant, officials say
By KEITH DOUCETTE The Canadian Press
Thu. Mar 11 - 4:54 AM

The Nova Scotia government is downplaying the risks taxpayers face in their equity stake in a manufacturing plant in Trenton that is going to make wind turbine components.

Marvin Robar, executive director of investment in the Department of Economic and Rural Development, said officials are "pretty comfortable" with sinking $60 million into the $90 million-dollar deal with the South Korean manufacturing giant Daewoo at the old TrentonWorks plant.

"Obviously it’s a lot of money, but there’s also huge potential benefits," Robar said in an interview.

The deal announced last Friday with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Inc. will see support towers and rotor blades for wind turbines built at the former railcar factory.

Percy Paris, minister of economic and rural development, also describes the agreement as an acceptable risk.

"Anything we do in the venue of lending money there is some risk to it," Paris said in an interview. "A lot of that risk depends on who you are partnering with. . . . This is a company I certainly have a great deal of confidence in."

Under the purchase agreement, the province has acquired a 49 per cent equity stake at a cost of $19.6 million while Daewoo gets 51 per cent of the venture for $20.4 million.

Paris said the 49-per-cent stake means the province is a co-owner and stands to get roughly half the dividends if the company is profitable. Any profits will go directly into provincial coffers.

Conversely, taxpayers will also share in any losses.

Paris said the province would have one member on the new company’s board, but its final composition is still a "work in progress."

Robar said Daewoo is the world’s second largest shipbuilder with revenues of about US$11 billion.

However, he didn’t rule out additional costs to taxpayers should Daewoo want to invest more in the plant. Robar said those requests could range from additional loans to more equity, something that would have to be decided by company shareholders: the province and Daewoo.

Robar said in addition to the nearly $20-million equity stake, the province’s contribution consists of about $40 million in loans. That includes close to $4 million to finance the purchase of the land, buildings and existing equipment from the plant’s receiver, $30 million over 15 years for new equipment for the construction of the turbines, and another $6 million over eight years for working capital.

Daewoo is also getting $10 million in loans from the federal government, $5 million of which is non-repayable.

The $4-million provincial loan for the purchase of assets is forgivable based on a percentage of payroll over the first six years of the venture, although Robar said there are no targets for the number of jobs in the final deal.

He said Daewoo would have to spend up to $50 million for new equipment.

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil is concerned about the risk taxpayers are shouldering in what he calls a "sweetheart deal" for the company.

"There isn’t a businessman in North America that, if he was given the opportunity this company was given, wouldn’t come to Nova Scotia," said McNeil. "The company only has to put $20 million on the table to own 51 per cent. . . . It’s absolutely nonsensical."

He also isn’t buying assurances that Daewoo is a good risk because of its size.

"If their pockets are so deep why are they not putting more money on the table?" he asked. "That’s a non-starter in terms of trying to justify this deal."

But Robar said the province’s large stake was the result of a competitive environment with other jurisdictions and the fact companies are always looking for incentives.

"They (Daewoo) have looked at Nova Scotia from a lot of different aspects and it seems to fit with their long-term plans, which we really hope will develop into much more than just Trenton," he said.

Government and company officials have said the project should create 120 jobs in the first year and up to 500 over three years once the plant gears up for production in September.

Last week the company also announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Nova Scotia Power to work on potential wind and tidal energy projects.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1171645.html

Trenton embraces Daewoo venture

By MARY ELLEN MacINTYRE Truro Bureau
Sat. Mar 6 - 4:54 AM

TRENTON — When Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering comes calling, that’s huge.

And when the world’s second-largest shipbuilder opts to make wind turbines and blades at a defunct railcar manufacturing plant in Trenton, there are huge sighs of relief in the town.

"It is absolutely the best news we’ve had in this place for a long, long time," one woman said outside Cornish’s Variety and Bakery, which overlooks the former TrentonWorks plant and a Nova Scotia Power generating station.

"It means my son can come back home with the grandkids from out west.

"There’s going to be one big party," she laughed.

Most residents of the Pictou County town probably had a similar reaction to the news that DSME will be establishing a wind turbine manufacturing operation at the TrentonWorks location.

In the three years since U.S. parent company Greenbrier shut down TrentonWorks, putting 300 people out of work, politicians at the municipal, provincial and federal levels have been jumping through hoops trying to attract another manufacturer to the site.

"We waited three years to hear this good news," Premier Darrell Dexter said during a news conference at the plant.

"There will be 125 jobs created in the first year, and it will provide opportunities for suppliers and businesses in the local area."

The wind turbine manufacturing operation, to be known as DSME Trenton, could eventually create 500 jobs, but those jobs won’t come cheap.

DSME is putting $20 million into DSME Trenton and will hold 51 per cent of the shares, while the province will kick in almost $60 million and keep a 49 per cent stake in the operation.

The province’s contribution includes $19.6 million in cash, a $30-million loan for new equipment, a $6-million loan for working capital and a $4-million forgivable loan for land and buildings.

The federal government, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, will provide $10 million, half as a forgivable loan and half to improve adjacent lands that will be leased from Nova Scotia Power.

Local MP Peter MacKay called the announcement a gold medal for the community and the country.

"This augurs well for the future of Pictou County," he said.

He told DSME president Nam Sang-Tae to expect nothing but hard work, perseverance and productivity from Pictou County workers.

MacKay, who is the defence minister in the Harper government, predicted the region could become the North American leader in clean energy research and technology.

Nam said the deal marks the South Korean company’s first chance to break into the North American market.

"This is the very first step and I’m very proud of that," he said.

"We will continue to prove this small step will make a big difference."

Nova Scotia Power signed a memorandum of understanding Friday acknowledging a shared interest in Bay of Fundy tidal power technology and offshore wind-generation platforms.

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said late Friday he is happy for the people of Pictou County "but I do have some concerns."

"This private company is investing $20 million and the taxpayers are investing a total of $70 million, and if this is such a good thing, why are we putting in over two-thirds and we own less?" he said.

"This province has a history of buying into companies that don’t do well, and the question has to be asked, when does the province get its money back?

"There are a lot of unknowns, and the taxpayers could be in a vulnerable position."

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DAEWOO FACTS

Company name: Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd.

Country of origin: South Korea

Workforce: employs 29,000

2008-09 sales: US$9.66 billion

Work: builds offshore platforms, like those in use at Sable Island and Terra Nova, as well as drilling rigs, submarines, destroyers and other kinds of vessels

Acquisition: bought DeWind Inc., an American wind turbine engineering company, last year.

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

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1170835.html

Daewoo deal is good for Pictou

ROGER TAYLOR
Sat. Mar 6 - 4:54 AM

FRIDAY’S news that South Korean manufacturing giant Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Ltd. will soon be building wind turbines in the old TrentonWorks plant in Pictou County is good news, and it’s about time.

It means instead of just being an importer of wind turbines to generate power, Nova Scotia will soon become a manufacturer of the high-tech windmills.

But this is not the first time Nova Scotia had a crack at the potentially lucrative business. Back in the 1990s, I was told a European manufacturer, which was then on the cutting edge of the turbine business, wanted to set up a manufacturing facility in the Amherst area.

It had the technology and the markets but the company needed government backing, and that was where the deal ended. Needless to say, the plant went elsewhere.

So it’s difficult to argue that the provincial government shouldn’t invest in the Daewoo project this time around. The choice is to invest or see the jobs go elsewhere.

But now the taxpayers of Nova Scotia are the minority owners of a turbine manufacturing plant to be operated by Daewoo. It is supposed to employ 120 people in the first year making turbine towers and blades, and up to 500 within three years.

Daewoo will hold 51 per cent of the plant with its investment of $20.4 million, and the province will be spending $19.6 million securing the remaining 49 per cent stake. The province is also using the Industrial Expansion Fund to provide a $30-million loan for equipment, up to $6 million for working capital and a $4-million forgivable loan to acquire land and buildings.

This will be Daewoo’s first manufacturing facility in North America, and the company is reported to be interested in building more than just wind turbine components in Trenton. It is also said to be interested in manufacturing offshore oil and gas platforms, and potentially tidal turbines.

As good as the deal looks today, there is always concern when government ventures into business territory. Past provincial governments have had difficulty extracting themselves from various businesses.

And there are some who will argue that Daewoo should be treated like other major companies interested in coming here to do business. BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion, for example, came to Nova Scotia in 2005 with the help of the province’s arm’s-length development agency, Nova Scotia Business Inc.

RIM agreed to bring its customer support facility to the Halifax area in 2005 with the help of a maximum $14-million performance-based payroll rebate and a $5-million financial package to assist with the cost of recruitment and training.

The government’s critics say the Daewoo investment should have been handled by NSBI too. They argue the agency endures greater public oversight than the Industrial Expansion Fund, which is controlled by the provincial cabinet.

According to the government’s own report on the Industrial Expansion Fund, the fund is used to support economic development and is important to helping industries involved in innovation and technology.

The expansion fund has considerable flexibility in the amount and type of funding it can provide, according to the report. And that was demonstrated recently.

It was used to provide a $20-million loan guarantee for Irving-owned Halifax Shipyard Ltd. That money will be used to help cover the cost of rebuilding wharfs, refurbishing and replacing cranes, and improving fabrication areas and offices.

The government also loaned Pictou County pulp maker Northern Pulp Ltd. $75 million to allow it to buy land from Neenah Paper, the plant’s former owner. The land purchase is supposed to guarantee the plant has a supply of raw materials for at least the next 30 years.

The government should be careful not to undermine the effectiveness of NSBI in bringing business to the province. Why would a company settle for a payroll rebate when they can get the money upfront from cabinet?

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1170829.html

Former NSP executive new deputy energy minister

By DAVID JACKSON Provincial Reporter
Sat. Mar 6 - 4:54 AM

A former Nova Scotia Power executive is the province’s new deputy minister of energy.

Murray Coolican starts the job Monday.

Coolican last year was the chairman of a steering committee for the Nova Scotia Renewable Energy Consultation. He was Nova Scotia Power’s vice-president of public affairs from 1996 to 2001, before moving to Maritime Life Assurance Co. as vice-president of corporate resources.

Coolican’s resume also includes a stint as Ontario’s deputy minister of native affairs from March 1992 to 1994.

Coolican, son-in-law of the late Tory icon Robert Stanfield, will make $172,000 in salary.

Recruitment firm Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette conducted a Canada-wide search at a cost of $43,900. Coolican and two other candidates were shortlisted and interviewed for the job before a recommendation went to Premier Darrell Dexter.

Previous deputy Alison Scott was seconded by the federal government in August to be a special advisor to the deputy minister of environment for provincial negotiations on climate change.

The executive council office also announced Friday that Byron Rafuse, controller with the Finance Department, will also be the associate deputy minister.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1170713.html

N.S. taking stake in plant

Sources: Province partners with Daewoo in venture at former TrentonWorks site
By KEITH DOUCETTE The Canadian Press
Fri. Mar 5 - 4:53 AM

Nova Scotia taxpayers will own a piece of a new venture at the former TrentonWorks railcar plant as government sources say the province is taking a 49 per cent equity stake in the operation to be run by South Korean manufacturing giant Daewoo.

The $90-million agreement scheduled to be announced today will see the sprawling seven-hectare factory in Trenton reopened for the first time in three years to manufacture large components for wind turbines, including rotor blades and support stands.

Deputy premier Frank Corbett confirmed Thursday the operation will employ more than 400.

One government source said the final deal was concluded earlier this week between the province, the company and the federal government.

The funding breakdown includes $60 million from the province, which covers the equity stake and other financial incentives including loans. Daewoo will spend $20 million and Ottawa will pitch in the other $10 million, the source said.

The federal component includes a $5 million repayable loan and a $5 million non-repayable loan.

The source said the plant is the first foray into wind energy for Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Ltd.

"They were looking for an initial foothold in North America to get into this business," said the source. "You’re looking at a company that’s been very successful at everything they’ve touched their hand to, looking to get into North America, and the province of Nova Scotia was able to land them to make their beachhead here."

No other details about the sale of the plant or government involvement are known, although sources have said funding will also be provided by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

One provincial government source said Daewoo plans to hire most of the workers it needs in short order.

The United Steelworkers of America also said last week that a tentative collective agreement between the company and the union is in place.

TrentonWorks was closed in April 2007 after Oregon-based Greenbrier Inc. decided that it wasn’t cost-efficient to keep the plant in operation.

First opened in 1872, the number of workers employed at the facility fluctuated during its years in operation. But it did employ 1,200 people as recently as November 2005 and employment peaked above 2,000 in the 1980s.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1170598.html

Tories let wind energy incentive die

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Thu. Mar 4 - 8:34 PM

A Pictou County wind developer is “disappointed” with the federal government’s decision not to extend a production incentive for wind energy producers.

“It’s certainly very important to the development of renewables," Reuben Burge, president of RMSenergy of New Glasgow, said Thursday night.

"If there’s no commitment then there’s uncertainty. It’s like they are saying they don’t support it.”

He said the federal government’s financial incentives helped to promote wind energy projects and give confidence in the industry.

“When the government isn’t behind it, it lacks confidence for lenders and we're in a bad financial situation this year and certainly for the next couple of years and anything would have been good to help."

Burge heads up Nova Scotia’s largest wind farm on Dalhousie Mountain, 25 kilometres west of New Glasgow. It started producing energy this year and can generate a total of 51 megawatts of power when all the 34 turbines are running. That’s enough electricity for 17,000 homes.

The electricity is sold to Nova Scotia Power through a long-term fixed-price purchase agreement, a method designed to stabilize energy costs.

The production incentive for wind-generated electricity of one cent per kilowatt will expire at the end of this fiscal year and will not be renewed, the federal government announced in Thursday’s budget.

Canada’s national wind association is predicting fewer wind turbines will be installed across the country as a result.

“We are shocked and disappointed that it has chosen not to extend a cost-effective program that facilitated record levels of investment and job creation in Canada’s wind-energy sector in the midst of the recession of 2009,” Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, said in a news release later Thursday.

Hornung predicts wind investors and developers will head south where the U.S. government is creating a more attractive investment climate for wind producers.

“While the U.S. federal government’s incentive program will provide support for new wind energy projects constructed through to the end of 2012, Canada’s ecoEnergy program has now allocated all of its funding and is supporting no wind energy projects built after March 2011 – almost two years before U.S. support is scheduled to end,” he added.

The ecoEnergy for renewable power program was created in June 2007 and has now allocated all of its funding and met its target to support 4,000 megawatts of new renewable energy projects in Canada.

The association will lobby the federal government to recommit the incentive with an estimated $1 trillion to be invested in wind energy projects between now and 2020 in Canada.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/News/9015515.html

NSP still keen to use biomass

Utility, paper mill trying to revise plan
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Wed. Mar 3 - 4:53 AM

Nova Scotia Power still wants to use biomass to generate electricity.

After having a proposed $60-million biomass project rejected eight months ago, the utility and NewPage Port Hawkesbury Ltd. are back holding talks.

"The discussions that have been going on are just trying to figure out how to make the project feasible," Robin McAdam, Nova Scotia Power vice-president (sustainability), confirmed Tuesday. "We took one run at moving the project along, which was unsuccessful. We’re just trying to find the formula that makes it feasible."

Last July, the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board refused to approve NSP’s proposed contract with NewPage and Strait Bio-Gen Ltd. to generate more than $1-billion worth of electricity at the Point Tupper paper mill that would have been sold to the utility over 25 years.

By June 2011, the project would have provided enough power for 50,000 homes.

"The people of Nova Scotia and their government will have to decide what role biomass is going to play. We’ve tried to put the issue out there and get people talking about it and help people understand what’s involved.

"All energy choices come with advantages and disadvantages; biomass is like everything else — it has questions that have to be answered," McAdam told reporters after speaking at a Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters conference on energy efficiency in Halifax.

He said the project was turned down for two reasons: the board said it did not have the authority to deal with the project and the uncertainty of biomass prices in the future.

"There was uncertainty about the biomass index that was being proposed," he said. "They’re very complicated projects."

McAdam pointed out that "biomass doesn’t have to be trees. It could be a fast-growing crop like willows, alders or certain grasses. An opportunity may exist with the thousands of hectares of underutilized farmland in Nova Scotia."

McAdam said putting farmland to use for the security of fuel supply would allow the utility to spend $500 million a year on fuel here in Nova Scotia.

"That’s money that would go to local farmers and landowners, rather than to foreign coal companies. There would be a significant economic benefit to Nova Scotia — especially rural communities."

The utility has test-burned wood chips in a 10 per cent mix with coal, and with further modifications, other coal-fired power plants could use a larger concentration of biomass, he said.

NewPage had teamed up with Cape Breton Explorations Ltd. to form Strait Bio-Gen Ltd. for the proposed biomass project. The partnership planned to build a $60-million facility to burn wood chips in a biomass generator to power a 60-megawatt steam turbine at the Strait of Canso.

But last year after the project was turned down, NewPage announced it was no longer working with Luciano Lisi, who is president of Strait Bio-Gen and also heads Cape Breton Explorations.

McAdam said the utility continued discussions with NewPage about its intentions.

"The relationship between Luciano and NewPage, that’s their relationship; you would have to get NewPage to comment on respective roles."

A spokesperson for NewPage was unavailable for comment.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1170323.html

NSP keen on subsea hydro

Electrical utility has "a lot riding on this’
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Mon. Mar 1 - 4:53 AM

North America’s rush to renewables has forced the region’s largest energy conglomerate to spend hundreds of millions of dollars this year going cleaner and greener.

Emera Inc. and its subsidiary, Nova Scotia Power, are pinning their hopes on harnessing the powerful tides of the Bay of Fundy to generate electricity.

"We’ve got a lot riding on this," said Emera CEO Chris Huskilson in a recent interview at his downtown Halifax office.

Cherubini Metal Works of Dartmouth made the base for the underwater turbine being tested in the Bay of Fundy by Nova Scotia Power and its partner Open Hydro.(Peter Parsons / Herald Staff)

"I think there is great potential both for us producing our own power from this source and Nova Scotians to get more involved in the technology."

Last November, Nova Scotia Power and its Irish partner, OpenHydro of Dublin, launched a commercial-scale underwater turbine in the Bay of Fundy.

"We’ve actually done some remote monitoring of the unit and we do know it is turning. We know it is still down there and still sitting on its legs," he said.

The data collected from the one-megawatt turbine is showing it is working though it is not connected to the grid, he said.

"We’ve got the machine in the water and it’s an exciting time because were gathering the data we need to understand whether this business can turn into something," said Huskilson.

Over the next year, Nova Scotia Power will determine whether it "will do a lot more" in this area.

"It’s an exciting time for the business."

Emera has invested US$16 million for an 8.2 per cent stake in OpenHydro in early 2008. The test turbine cost $10 million, with Nova Scotia Power investing the lion’s share and $4.6 million coming from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a non-profit green energy foundation.

Huskilson says the next step for Nova Scotia Power is testing an array of three tidal turbines and connecting them to an underwater power cable expected to be installed in 2011.

"We have to decide when it’s right for us to put the array in. That’s the next thing we need to do, is test an array," he said.

"The next thing to be tested is both the interaction with the power line and also the interaction with each other."

He said testing an array of turbines connected to a power grid has yet to be done anywhere.

Exploring the opportunities of tidal energy is part of Emera’s strategy to grow its renewable portfolio.

Renewables, including wind, hydro and tidal, account for about 25 per cent of the energy giant’s portfolio, and the company expects that to grow to 40 per cent by 2020, he said.

The utility and Emera will spend $200 million this year to have ownership stakes in three of the six wind power projects for which Nova Scotia Power signed power purchase agreements in 2008.

The provincial government ordered Nova Scotia Power to have five per cent of its total electricity purchases generated by independent power producers from renewable energy sources by the end of 2011.

Last week, the utility applied to regulators for approval to spend $28 million to kick-start a stalled wind power project in Point Tupper. Under the agreement, Renewable Energy Services Ltd. of Lower Sackville will build and operate the wind farm in Richmond County and Nova Scotia Power will have a 49 per cent interest.

Last month, the unregulated holding company bought a 100 per cent stake in another financially troubled wind farm. Troubled SkyPower Inc. of Toronto had partnered with Scotian WindFields on the project in Digby.

Last year, Nova Scotia Power purchased the $120-million Nuttby Mountain project in Colchester County from EarthFirst Canada Inc. of Calgary. The project had stalled due to the global credit crisis.

"We continue to believe that diversity of generation is an important aspect. You can’t have only one source of generation," Huskilson said.

Now that wind farms have been up and running for at least five years in Nova Scotia, the risk is more reasonable, he said.

Emera’s strategy appears to be working, with a five-year growth rate of nine per cent and a share price that increased 12.9 per cent in 2009, he said.

On the Toronto stock market Friday afternoon, Emera shares rose 10 cents to $23.85.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1169913.html