New Brunswick's breezes found alluring
The province’s little utility believes it can cut deals with big players to harness the winds to power New Brunswick.
NB Power has already signed contracts with three huge firms to erect more than 300 megawatts of generating capacity at four locations — and more seem willing to look at the potential of the breezes sweeping New Brunswick, judging from the talk at the Atlantic Power summit in Saint John this week.
TransAlta Corporation (TSX: TA), (NYSE: TAC) of Calgary intends to start producing electricity at its 96-megawatt windfarm under construction at Kent Hills, Albert county, by the end of this year.
Acciona Wind Energy Canada, part of the Spanish conglomerate Acciona, SA (BMAD: ANA), intends to generate 49.5 megawatts at at Lamèque and 64.5 megawatts more at Aulac.
Suez Renewable Energy North America, part of the French conglomerate GdF Suez (FR:GSZ) has another 99 megawatts under construction on Caribou Mountain, Restigouche County.
The Acciona and GdF Suez projects, when they start turning out power next year, will put NB Power within a 100 megawatts of its goal of 400 megawatts of wind generation by 2010.
NB Power has signed long-term purchases agreements with these companies, and hopes to make up the difference, to 400 megawatts, with smaller community-based wind farms.
At 400 megawatts, wind would account for 10 per cent of NB Power’s generating capacity, which currently totals just under 4,000 megawatts. (This number includes the 635 megawatts the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor would generate, were not shut down for refurbishment.)
NB Power does not want more wind power until it learns how to absorb the output from this untried source; however, New Brunswick has its eyes on much more than 400 megawatts according to speakers at the Atlantic Power Summit.
The province could harness a potential 4,500 megawatts, Energy Minister Jack Keir said.
NB Power cannot use this right away, but it will need it in the future to free the province from imported hydrocarbons to make electricity, said senior NB Power executive Bill Darrell Bishop.
In the meantime, companies might export power from “merchant” windfarms if the Atlantic Provinces and New England can build the transmission lines to get move this electricity to market — another major theme of the conference.
People following wind developments in New Brunswick might need a program to keep up with the mergers and buyouts affecting who owns which wind project.
In July 2007, TransAlta acquired the Fairfield Hill wind site near Dorchester from Vector Wind Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. (TSX: KHD) of Calgary, for future development. TransAlta added the 21 megawatts Vector Wind planned to build to TransAlta’s original 75 megawatts, and consolidate the 96 megawatts at Kent Hills.
A merger between Gaz de France and the old Suez company created GdF Suez in September 2007.
Before the merger, Gaz de France and other partners proposed to lay a natural gas pipeline from Quebec to northern New Brunswick. A predcessor company to Suez built the canal with the same name.
The government of France, which owned 80 per cent of GDF, acquired 35 per cent of the merged company.
This year GdF Suez acquired the Toronto wind developer Ventis which built windfarms at West Cape and Norway, P.E.I.
These projects now form part of the GdF Suez portfolio. Former Wnetis employee Donald J. Bartlett of Halifax, now regional vice-president, development/asset management for Suez Renwable Energy NA, spoke at the Atlantic Power Summit.
Derwin Gowan
Telegraph-Journal
New Brunswick Business Journal
12 September 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
Some possibly related stories:
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- Wind turbines going up south of Campbellton
- New Brunswick politicians take aim at Ottawa over energy corridor
- Shear wind power play; 1,000 megawatts N.S. firm exploring feasibility of two new wind farms in New Brunswick
- Ice halts northern New Brunswick wind farm
- Wind turbine damaged in fire at Transalta facility in New Brunswick
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