At least our cold, wet spring weather is good for generating green energy.
Nova Scotia Power Inc. announced this week that there were two days last month when 20 per cent of the province’s electricity came from wind power.
"It’s the most that we’ve ever gotten from wind in the history of the province," Rob Bennett, president of Nova Scotia Power, said in an interview earlier this week.
"That’s a fantastic result compared to where we were just a few short years ago, where only a small percentage was coming from wind, so we’ve made great strides."
On April 24 at midnight, wind farms generated 250 megawatts of power, surpassing the previous record of 235 megawatts set on April 14 at 8 a.m.
On an average day, five to 10 per cent of power comes from wind, Nova Scotia Power says. The amount varies based on such factors as demand for electricity, time of year and time of day.
Bennett said the record-breaking 20 per cent figure was possible because it was windy throughout the province at the same time.
"The wind farms are spread out. Sometimes it’s windy in one area and not in the other," he said.
Seven wind farms, with a total of 119 turbines, have been added to the grid since December 2009. They are owned by Nova Scotia Power and private producers.
The Dexter government has mandated that 25 per cent of electricity be generated by renewable sources by 2015, increasing to 40 per cent by 2020.
Coal generated 65 per cent of the province’s power last year, down from 80 per cent in 2006, Bennett told the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Halifax on Wednesday.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1241902.html
2 comments:
I see this as a story about the complete inefficiencies of wind energy. They actually all worked for two whole entire days?? Woo ..freakin' ...hoo!!
Wind has never and will not in the foreseeable future replace back up generating energy facilities such as oil/gas/coal fired generating stations. It is expensive and inefficient. Equipment is short lived but installment is permanant. They are a blight on the landscape when brand new and even more so when abandoned.
Instead of wasting money on this short sighted form of occassional energy, governments should be sending their subsidies to energy companies to research form that are actually sustainable.
All the news about wind generation lately is good. Glen Dhu, Northern New Brunswick, Amherst and now a great production figure.
The handfull of wind farms producion now are supplying over 8% of Nova Scotia's power.
It gets better. More farme = more power. Or: More turbines per farm+ more production.
Simple arithmatic shows how easily Nova Scotia can get 15% of its power from wind: or 20% or 25%
Expect more good news about rising production as more generators come online.
John McManus
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