Nova Scotia Power has lost its bid to have Shear Wind Inc. of Bedford pay for power line upgrades needed to transport energy from the wind power generating facility to the power grid.
The renewable energy company is developing a wind farm, known as the Glen Dhu wind project, to supply renewable power to Nova Scotia Power. The company wants to install 30 turbines, 14 in Antigonish County and the remainder near Baileys Brook, Pictou County.
Shear Wind wanted to connect its wind generating facility with Nova Scotia’s Power’s transmission line between Trenton and Lochaber, Antigonish County. The two companies entered negotiations on the cost of hooking the wind farm to the power grid but disagreed on who should pay.
Nova Scotia Power asked the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to resolve the outstanding dispute last December.
Shear Wind argued it was not responsible for the costs and that the benefits of the power line upgrades will flow to the whole transmission system.
Nova Scotia Power argued that they shouldn’t be responsible to cover the costs because they were included in a power-purchase agreement signed earlier with Shear Wind.
The board ruled Tuesday that Shear Wind is required to pay the "up front" costs of the network upgrades but they are "entitled to recover the costs from the transmission provider (Nova Scotia Power)."
The cost of the upgrades was not disclosed in the decision. Nova Scotia Power refused to release the costs because they were "confidential" and Shear Wind was unavailable for comment.
Glen Dhu was supposed to be operating by now, but Shear Wind was unable to secure financing for the capital-intensive project until late last year when Inveravante, a privately held Spanish utility conglomerate, bought a 62 per cent stake in Shear Wind for $27 million.
It is scheduled to begin producing enough electricity to power 17,500 homes by the end of this year.
In a similar decision earlier this year between Nova Scotia Power and Amherst Wind Power LP, the review board ruled the Amherst wind farm must pay $2.35 million of the total upgrade costs of $4.53 million.
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