Shear Wind project faces delay

Company to erect 12 turbines this year, remaining 15 by next March
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Thu, Sep 30 - 6:56 AM

A shortage of wind turbines has meant one of Nova Scotia’s proposed wind farms will be delayed, but the company running the operation will deliver the amount of electricity it promised to Nova Scotia Power, The Chronicle Herald has learned.

Shear Wind Inc. will erect only 12 of 27 turbines by Dec. 31, and the remainder will be installed by March 31, 2011, company president Mike Magnus said Tuesday night after a presentation at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.

Despite the setback, the Bedford renewable energy firm will still meet its contractual obligations to provide Nova Scotia Power with 20 megawatts of wind-generated electricity, enough for almost 6,000 homes, by the end of December under a contract signed in 2008.

"We are anticipating putting up 12 turbines by the end of the year and the balance of turbines before March 31," Magnus said.

"That’s our plans."

The company probably spent "too much time assessing" which turbines would be best for the project and consequently ordered too late, he said.

In May, Shear Wind signed a contract with German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon for an estimated $100 million.

Shear Wind is developing the $150-million Glen Dhu wind power project to produce 60 megawatts of power. It straddles Antigonish and Pictou counties, and was scheduled to have 27 turbines up and running by the end of December.

This is another setback for the project, but Shear Wind was unable to secure financing until late last year when a Spanish utility conglomerate bought a 62 per cent stake in Shear Wind for $27 million.

Shear Wind had to forfeit a $500,000 performance deposit to Nova Scotia Power after it failed to deliver electricity to the utility by the end of last year.

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. Only RMS Energy, which has installed 34 wind turbines west of New Glasgow, is producing electricity.

Nova Scotia Power has purchased two of the struggling projects, which should be fully operational later this year, and bought a 49 per cent stake in Renewable Energy Services Ltd.’s Point Tupper wind project, which is already producing power, said Patty Faith, Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman, on Wednesday.

A 30-megawatt wind project proposed by Acciona Energy Canada for Amherst has been halted for many reasons, including financing costs and the downturn in the economy, said Micaela Whalen, Acciona spokeswoman, from Chicago on Wednesday.

"The devaluation of the Canadian dollar, combined with rising costs, made the project more expensive to build and increasingly difficult to procure financing, and all those things are critical. We’re currently looking for a solution to make the project viable," she said.

Despite the Acciona project stalling and Shear Wind’s delay in installing turbines, Nova Scotia Power will meet renewable energy targets because the utility oversubscribed the amount of electricity required, said Faith.

"When all the projects that are currently under construction are completed, wind power will account for 280 megawatts of electricity in the province, which is about double what it was."

These wind projects will represent about 13 to 16 per cent of the province’s electricity supply.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1204593.html

N.S. limits access to energy documents

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Wed, Sep 29 - 4:54 AM

The Dexter government is only releasing a small number of the 57 documents it received about the province’s plan to increase the amount of green energy generated here.

On Tuesday, the province released five of the submissions containing advice about the province’s draft renewable electricity regulations but only after The Chronicle Herald filed a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The government sought public input on its new renewable energy strategy in May, and the public had until July 23 to submit ideas.

After being denied access to the submissions, The Chronicle Herald filed its request Aug. 25.

The material released to the newspaper offers advice on plans to increase the province’s renewable electricity supply. The province wants 25 per cent of its electricity to come from green sources by 2015.

In September, the Energy Department offered to expedite the process by asking The Chronicle Herald to select some of the 57 submissions for perusal. Then, the province said, it would ask those parties if they wished to have their submissions made public.

The newspaper requested seven documents but was given five, including submissions from Nova Scotia Power, Halifax law firm McInnes Cooper, papermaker NewPage, the Canadian Wind Energy Association and wind turbine manufacturer Enercon.

Two companies, Northern Pulp and Paper and Halifax-based renewable energy firm Shear Wind Inc., requested that their submissions remain private.

The government says it will eventually release all submissions after each individual, company or group has been contacted to determine whether entire sections may be made public or if there would be a partial release of documents.

"The process involved submissions by people who had, in some cases, confidential arrangements or commercial arrangements," said Bruce Cameron, the Energy Department’s director of policy, planning and services, on Tuesday.

The regulations are to establish eligibility for community-based projects and a process for determining how they get compensated, along with a special process to support the next stage of tidal development in the Bay of Fundy.

They also establish a new renewable electricity administrator to manage bids for larger projects from independent power producers.

Cameron said the regulations are being finalized and will soon be presented to cabinet for approval.

"Regulations will then be finalized by cabinet and then become law."

He said most of the submissions indicate "overwhelming support for the thrust and direction of the renewable electricity plan and a great deal of support for the main features of the community feed-in tariffs."

The tariffs guarantee producers of renewable energy a long-term contract in which they are usually paid a price higher than the market price for power they feed into the grid.

The wind energy association’s submission supports the government’s plan and estimates that six megawatts of new wind power by 2015 will lead to $19.5 million in annual local economic revenue and over 122 direct jobs. It also recommended a broad definition of "community," as it pertains to the tariffs, that includes every resident of Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia Power, in its submissions, is urging government to provide a "clear definition" of the word community.

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter proclaimed this week Right to Know Week to raise awareness of the right to access information.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1204337.html

Biomass plan too risky, hearing told

NSP customers will be on hook if plant fails, consumer advocate says
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Tue, Sep 28 - 4:53 AM

If anything goes wrong with a plan to generate electricity by burning wood waste at a plant in Point Tupper, it will become the financial burden of Nova Scotia Power customers, the province’s consumer advocate has told the Utility and Review Board.

"The board should make a finding that exposing ratepayers to the risk of such additional costs is imprudent," John Merrick wrote in a rebuttal argument filed Friday with the board.

"Such a finding is amply supported on the evidence. As a result, the application should be denied."

Both sides are turning up the heat over a controversial proposal for a $208-million biomass power plant. Nova Scotia Power and its project partner, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, are behind the proposal.

The review board must approve the project if it is to proceed. The proposal faces opposition from energy consultants, environmentalists, businesses and Merrick, the consumer advocate.

A decision is expected within 90 days of submission of the final evidence. The board rejected a similar proposal last summer.

Merrick has raised concerns about the financial troubles plaguing NewPage Corp., the Ohio company that owns NewPage Port Hawkesbury, and the risk that Nova Scotia Power customers will be exposed to if the biomass project incurs additional costs or if NewPage Corp. fails.

Merrick was critical of NewPage Port Hawkesbury for saying that its parent company’s financial situation is no different from that of other companies in the forest products business.

"Doing business with NewPage has a higher risk than doing business with other forest products companies generally," Merrick stated.

During a public hearing earlier this month, a U.S. consultant working for the review board showed that NewPage Corp., which is owned by private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, has $7 million in cash and $113 million available on a line of credit, but it also has a debt of $3.4 billion.

Liberty Consultants recommended that Nova Scotia Power go back and negotiate with two other companies offering biomass proposals, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp. and Cape Breton Explorations Ltd.

Nova Scotia Power said Merrick’s previous comments about a possible restructuring of NewPage Port Hawkesbury’s parent company were "speculative."

"In fact, the experience in Nova Scotia suggests that the local mill operation, and the biomass plant that supports it, would continue as usual during the financial restructuring of a parent company," Nova Scotia Power wrote in its rebuttal arguments to the board.

The utility states that the "concerns" of other interveners "do not identify issues that should cause the board to reject the project; instead, the board should accept the evidence of those in support of the project, including NewPage and the Nova Scotia government."

Nova Scotia Power wants the review board to approve the biomass project to help it meet the province’s targets for producing electricity from renewable sources. The company would like to get the plant up and running by 2012.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1204103.html

Biomass gets a push

NSP, NewPage urge immediate approval of Cape Breton energy project
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Wed, Sep 22 - 4:53 AM

Two of Nova Scotia’s corporate heavyweights defended their proposed $208-million wood biomass energy project before the provincial regulator Tuesday.

Nova Scotia Power and its largest customer, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, argue the controversial biomass project is in the "best interest" of electricity customers in Nova Scotia and should be approved without further delay.

For the project to go ahead, it must receive approval from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, which is in the final stages of reviewing the proposed project. It would use wood to generate electricity.

In a last-ditch effort to win over the regulator, NewPage urged the board in its 53-page submission released Tuesday to approve the project without further conditions.

Meanwhile, its partner, Nova Scotia Power, warns any delays in approvals or having to negotiate with other companies for another biomass project could mean higher power bills for its 470,000 customers. The utility would like the power plant to be operating by 2012 to meet the province’s targets for producing electricity from renewable sources.

"Continued analysis and negotiation is not justifiable, nor would it be appropriate, given that the Port Hawkesbury biomass project is the best available economic option for customers," wrote Nova Scotia Power in 36 pages of final arguments to the board.

NewPage Corp., the Ohio company that owns NewPage Port Hawkesbury, a pulp and paper operation, has reported having only $7 million in cash and $113 million available on a line of credit. The company is $3.3 billion in debt and faces annual debt servicing charges of $330 million.

Despite increasing sales in its second quarter, NewPage reported a loss of $174 million.

Last week, consultants hired by the regulatory board voiced concern that the project poses "significant risks" to Nova Scotia Power customers.

The consultants, from Liberty Consulting in California, recommended to the board that Nova Scotia Power go back and negotiate with biomass proposals from Northern Pulp and Cape Breton Explorations Ltd.

NewPage lawyers refuted the consultants’ remarks about the company’s financial stability.

"Liberty’s expressed concern with the financial condition of NewPage Corp. was premised on a non-expert opinion based apparently on an Internet review of certain publicly available information," NewPage’s lawyers wrote.

The pulp and paper company also stated the future of any industrial enterprise is subject to the "vagaries of its market environment" and the proposed energy biomass project will "enhance" the Cape Breton mill’s future.

Nova Scotia’s consumer advocate John Merrick, along with a group of industrial customers, known as the Avon Group, and the Ecology Action Centre all recommended the board reject the proposed biomass project.

Merrick argues the project has its benefits but there are "excessive and unreasonable risks of increased costs for ratepayers and should not be approved."

"It would be of benefit to NewPage and provide improved operating conditions for one of Nova Scotia’s largest employers," Merrick wrote in his submission.

He also argues the financial circumstances facing NewPage’s parent company will ultimately affect the mill in Cape Breton.

"No matter how productive the Port Hawkesbury (mill) may be, it is not a stand-alone operation," he wrote. "The risk is sufficiently possible and the consequences sufficiently great that it makes the project unreasonable and imprudent for ratepayers."

The Ecology Action Centre in Halifax does not oppose energy production from forest biomass but is concerned over the supply of biomass and the long-term fuel costs for the project.

The public hearing into the NewPage and Nova Scotia Power proposal has concluded. Rebuttal arguments are due by Friday. Board spokesman Paul Allen has said the board’s policy is to try and issue all decisions within 90 days of receiving all evidence.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1203154.html

The 'beast' is launched

U.K. firm set to erect a giant turbine to harness tides of the North Sea. Could the Bay of Fundy be next?
By BILL POWER Business Reporter
Thu, Sep 9 - 4:53 AM

A U.K. COMPANY that is about to commission one of the world’s biggest marine energy turbines off the coast of Scotland has targeted the Bay of Fundy for future projects.

"The Fundy tides are one of the best tidal resources in the world. The area will become a key market and we want to be a part of it," said Timothy Cornelius, chief executive officer of Atlantic Resources Corporation, in an interview Wednesday.

Cornelius said Atlantis Resources has reviewed the tidal energy potential of the Bay of Fundy and has reached the point where discussions with potential partners are in order.

"One of the things we’ve learned over the years (is) the need for strong, local partners is paramount for projects of this magnitude," said the CEO.

"We want to talk to potential partners for everything from fabrication, all the way up to installation," he said.

The latest, and possibly largest, marine power turbine debuted Wednesday on its way to the coast of Scotland’s Orkney Islands. Weighing 132 tonnes and measuring 22.5 metres tall, the AK1000 is built to withstand the harsh open waters of the North Sea. (Mike Brookes Roper)

Now that Atlantis has successfully installed one of its massive AK1000 turbines off the coast of Scotland’s Orkney Islands, the marine energy company is ramping up some European and Asian demonstration projects and remains keen about the Bay of Fundy.

"We’ll soon be connecting the AK1000 to the Orkney regional power grid. It will generate enough power for about 1,000 homes," said the CEO.

"This represents a major step forward in the commercialization of tidal power. I would say tidal power today is about where wind power was about 20 years ago," he said.

Cornelius said his company has to date conducted only some initial analysis of the Bay of Fundy, but is fully aware of the bay’s "enormous potential" as a natural energy generator.

He said the AK1000 it just the sort of "beast" that could withstand the brutal tides and troublesome siltation of the bay. It weighs in at about 132 tonnes, stands about 22.5 metres high and has two 18-metre-diameter rotors to take advantage of the ebb and flow of ocean tides.

The turbine was designed to be big and slow and dependable and was built to withstand the worst the North Sea can toss at it, said the CEO.

"The slow-turning blades are an extremely minimal threat to marine life and the turbine can function in depths of 30 metres."

He said his company is definitely interested in talking to potential partners in a demonstration project in response to the province’s recent call for proposals for more tidal demonstration projects in the bay.

Fundy Tidal Inc. of Westport is expected to place a test turbine on the seabed near Digby sometime this fall and hopes to begin commercial operation in three years.

Nova Scotia Power and partner OpenHydro placed an underwater test turbine in the Minas Passage in the Bay of Fundy last fall. The future of that project has been foggy after powerful currents broke two blades on the turbine.

European tidal firms eye Fundy

Source: Norwegian, German companies have expressed interest
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Tue, Sep 14 - 4:53 AM

The prospect of harnessing the Bay of Fundy tides to generate electricity has caught the attention of two European developers of tidal power, The Chronicle Herald has learned.

Hammerfest Strom of Norway and Voith Hydro of Germany are among five companies that have expressed interest to the provincial government, a source told this newspaper.

Hammerfest Strom is already in a joint venture with ScottishPower Renewables to install a one-megawatt pre-commercial turbine at the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkney Islands. The turbine is expected to be fully operational next year.

Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies is installing a one-megawatt turbine off the Scottish coast, project developers reported. The turbine is to commence a two-year trial at the European Marine Energy Centre next year.

The European companies’ interest in the Bay of Fundy tides, the highest in the world, is exciting news, an industry watcher says.

"It would mean the Bay of Fundy is really attracting the attention of the leaders in large-scale tidal," said Chris Campbell, executive director of the Ocean Renewable Energy Group of Nanaimo, B.C.

"That’s the opportunity that Nova Scotia is right on the cusp . . . this being a science experiment and turning it into a business," he said.

Hammerfest Strom executives are coming to Nova Scotia next month and will meet with officials from the government and the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy to look at the medium- to long-term possibilities in Nova Scotia, Campbell said.

"The real issue now (is) what are the real opportunities going to be beyond putting a single machine in the Minas Passage (Bay of Fundy)?" he said. "The industry needs to see they’ve got a place that they can start to get experience with arrays of these machines. Pilot power plants as opposed to machine demonstrations. That’s what everyone is looking at at this point."

Campbell will be in Halifax on Oct. 12 to attend a government meeting on drafting a commercialization strategy for tidal power in Nova Scotia.

Energy Department spokeswoman Tracy Barron would only confirm that the government received notice from five companies that they are interested. She would not identify the companies.

She said the department will soon issue a formal call for more detailed proposals.

Last week, the Atlantic Resources Corp. of the U.K. said it is interested in the tidal energy potential of the Bay of Fundy and is waiting for the government to issue its request for proposals.

A $10-million turbine that Nova Scotia Power and partner OpenHydro of Ireland lowered into the Minas Passage, about 10 kilometres west of Parrsboro, last November was damaged and will be hauled out of the water next month.

Nova Scotia Power discovered that two blades, made from blends of plastics and glass, on the 400-tonne experimental turbine broke off in May. The malfunction is forcing the company to pull the device out of the water a year ahead of schedule.

Two other companies, Minas Basin Pulp and Power of Hantsport and Clean Current of British Columbia, have also been chosen to test turbines in the Bay of Fundy but have delayed their projects until 2012.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1201853.html

Tidal firm sees 'opportunity'

German company confirms interest in Bay of Fundy project
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Wed, Sep 15 - 4:53 AM

German tidal power developer Voith Hydro is taking a look at the province’s latest proposal to test an underwater turbine to turn the tides of the Bay of Fundy into a source of energy.

"Yes, Nova Scotia is an opportunity," said Pierre Seguin, Voith Hydro’s head of business development, in Brossard, Que., on Tuesday.

He said the company heard the government’s request for proposal for a fourth berth in the Bay of Fundy has "hit the street."

"We will take a look at it, but it is an investment decision and it will have to go before our board," said Seguin.

The provincial government announced Tuesday it is looking for a fourth developer to try and harness the tides of the Bay for Fundy to generate electricity. The Energy Department received five responses to an expression of interest issued earlier this year.

Seguin confirmed Voith was one of those companies that showed interest to the government in a test project in the Bay of Fundy. The Chronicle Herald has reported that Norwegian tidal power developer Hammerfest Strom is also interested.

The proponent must demonstrate the financial capability to fund the expensive technology that can withstand the harsh conditions in the bay, along with a plan to monitor effects on the environment, according to the government.

The deadline for proposals is Oct. 20.

Last week, the Atlantic Resources Corp. of England said it is interested in the tidal energy potential of the Bay of Fundy and is waiting for the government to issue its request for proposals.

But on Tuesday a company spokesman in London said it was probably too soon for the company to submit a proposal.

The successful proponent will join three other developers — Nova Scotia Power, Alstom and Minas Basin Pulp and Power — that have berths on the ocean floor.

Nova Scotia Power and its technology partner, OpenHydro, of Dublin, Ireland, have experienced the trials and tribulations of developing working tidal turbines.

The two companies deployed a $10-million turbine in the Minas Passage about 10 kilometres west of Parrsboro last November. It was damaged and will be hauled out of the water next month.

Nova Scotia Power discovered that two blades made from blends of plastic and glass on the 400-tonne experimental turbine broke off in May. The malfunction is forcing the company to pull the device out of the water a year ahead of schedule.

Two other companies, Minas Basin Pulp and Power of Hantsport and Alstom of Switzerland, have also been chosen to test turbines in the Bay of Fundy, with their projects scheduled to be installed in 2012.

The government’s decision to find a company interested in testing another turbine was welcome news to the organization overseeing development of tidal power in the Bay of Fundy.

"It’s great because this is brand new technology and we welcome another party to test a new technology," said Matt Lumley, spokesman for the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy. "It will be exciting to see how it unfolds."

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1202030.html