The largest wind farm in Nova Scotia is ready for its product to go to market.
Shear Wind Inc. executives said Friday the company will beat the deadline to generate wind energy for Nova Scotia Power by the end of the month.
"It’s a major infrastructure investment in Nova Scotia, and we’ve accomplished this with no government assistance — a company that started a little over five years ago," said Shear Wind CEO Mike Magnus.
"When was the last time an investment of this magnitude was made in this province? That’s the accomplishment of this company, one that management, shareholders and the citizens of Nova Scotia should be proud of."
The company has installed nine wind turbines near Baileys Brook, Pictou County, and will begin delivering green electricity next week, said Ian Tillard, Shear Wind’s chief operating officer.
"Everyone has a smile on their face," said Tillard in a telephone interview from Baileys Brook on Friday. "When you see one come online, it is a very positive feeling."
It’s a significant milestone for the Bedford renewable energy company, which last year forfeited a $500,000 performance deposit to Nova Scotia Power after failing to deliver electricity to the utility by the end of 2009.
"The nine will get us there," Tillard said. "Nine is the minimum requirement to meet our contractual side of that. We are very pleased with that, and we have one online right now."
He intends to notify Nova Scotia Power on Monday or Tuesday that at least one of the turbines is generating electricity. Under a contract signed in 2008, Shear Wind must provide NSP with 20 megawatts of wind-generated electricity, enough for almost 6,000 homes, by the end of December.
Tillard said work continues on the installation of another three turbines, with a further 15 to be up and running by March 31. A crew of about 90 people started erecting the 2.3-megawatt Enercon wind turbines Nov. 3. Close to 85 per cent of the workforce is from Nova Scotia.
Shear Wind is developing the $150-million Glen Dhu wind power project to produce 60 megawatts of power. The site straddles Antigonish and Pictou counties, with the original schedule calling for 27 turbines to be online by the end of this month. A shortage of wind turbines caused the delay.
Ironically, construction was affected this month by unusually high winds at the construction site.
"Here’s the issue," said Tillard. "This time of the year is the windiest month at the site. There’s no sense of desperation about it, it’s just the way things get dealt with in the wind industry."
In May, Shear Wind signed a $100-million contract with German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon.
"With all the years of preparatory work both on the project development side and the (environmental assessment) process and the intense process on the financing side, to actually now see these things erected is very satisfying," said Tillard.
Shear Wind’s project is one of six contracts Nova Scotia Power signed in 2008 with wind developers for 247 megawatts of electricity, enough for 87,000 homes, to be generated by late 2009.
Nova Scotia Power has purchased two of the struggling projects, which should be fully operational by the end of this year, and bought a 49 per cent stake in Renewable Energy Services Ltd.’s Point Tupper wind project, which is already producing power.
When all the projects that are currently under construction are completed, wind power will account for 280 megawatts of electricity, representing 13 to 16 per cent of the province’s supply.
Shares of Shear Wind were trading up three cents Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange at 18 cents.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1217810.html
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