Suncor signing agreements with land owners for wind project
A spokesperson for Suncor Energy says the company has been signing land optioning agreements with Huron East residents to gain access to their land to study wind resources with plans to develop a wind power project over the next few years.
Coral Hulse says the Alberta-based company has been meeting with local landowners since January and has been studying wind conditions in the rural area bordered by Winthrop Road, Manley Line, Highway 8 and Division Line.
But plans for the project can only go so far because the Ontario Power Authority has designated the area as an “Orange Zone,” where the transmission system has limited or no ability to accept new generation.
The OPA will currently only accept applications from micro projects, which are no greater than 10 kilowatts, but Suncor is planning a much bigger project, modeled after the 76 megawatt Ripley project east of Kindcardine that has been operating since December.
“The grid needs more transmission capacity to take on a project,” Hulse says. “Until the new transmission constraints have been alleviated, no projects will be done.”
Hydro One has applied to the Ontario Energy Board for a transmission expansion in the Bruce region, but according to the OPA, any network upgrades that would reduce congestion will require long lead-times to implement.
Once the constraints are alleviated and the province issues a request for a proposal, companies can start bidding on projects.
“It’ll probably be another few years before an actual project would be on site,” Hulse says.
In the interim, Hulse says Suncor will be increasing its presence in the area, talking with more landowners and the municipality, but she adds there are no plans to hold public information sessions in the near future.
A meteorological test tower Suncor erected in June 2005 in McKillop is still collecting data, primarily gauging the consistency of blowing winds in the area.
Hulse says after a period of initial testing three years ago, Suncor decided the area was “potentially a good spot from a wind resource perspective.”
“Being near the lake is certainly a piece of the puzzle that plays into its potential,” Hulse added.
“We do have an operating wind farm in Ontario and we are proud of the Ripley site and the area (near Lake Huron) is definitely a good spot and people can expect there to be more projects there in the future,” she says.
Each of the 38, two-megawatt turbines at the Ripley project is approximately 80 metres tall. The project site is about eight by eight square kilometres and produces enough energy to power 24,000 homes in Ontario for a year.
By Dan Schwab
7 August 2008
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Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
