Industry has eye on N.B. wind strategy
An industry executive says Energy Minister Jack Keir’s wind strategy is catching the attention of the entire industry. New Brunswick’s growing wind sector is now churning out more than $800 million worth of direct investments.
There are already 400 megawatts of wind projects on the books in New Brunswick and Tom Vihvelin, the president and chief executive officer of Wind Dynamics, said the industry is eagerly awaiting a future request for proposals so the industry can continue its rapid growth.
“We’d like to see another (request for proposals) from NB Power for more wind power and that would get the ball rolling again,” Vihvelin said.
“We’re being proactive and we are developing new projects, so when another RFP comes out we will be ready.”
Vihvelin was on a panel discussing renewable energy projects at the Economic Developers Association of Canada’s annual meeting in Fredericton on Tuesday.
Saint John-based Wind Dynamics has successfully won two contracts in the province’s wind power race. The company is setting up a 64.5-megawatt wind farm in Aulac and a slightly smaller 49.5-megawatt facility located in Lameque.
Based on the 400 megawatts that are under long-term contracts, the executive said a conservative estimate of investment, without factoring in economic spinoffs, exceeds $800 million. And that figure could easily grow if the Liberal government chases its “big wind” strategy of generating 2,500 to 4,500 megawatts of wind power within the next two decades.
Vihvelin told the group of economic developers that the industry is paying very close attention to Keir’s wind strategy.
“We are behind, there is no question we are behind, but we are going to play catch up very quickly here,” he said.
Before any additional RFPs are released, Keir and the New Brunswick System Operator are studying the implications of adding that much wind power to the grid.
The race for more wind generation answers the twin demand of more electricity from renewable resources and economic activity.
Yves Gagnon, the K.C. Irving chair in sustainable development at the Universite de Moncton, said his research is showing New Brunswick can start adopting a policy that allows communities to reap more of the profits from the wind.
“You don’t need an MBA to realize there is money to be made. There are so many companies from all over the world wanting to exploit the wind here in New Brunswick, so money can be made,” Gagnon said.
Gagnon’s team is advising the provincial government on how to establish a community wind power development policy. Typically, he said, these would be smaller wind farms, in the range of 10 to 15 megawatts and financed entirely by local groups.
Although they would be smaller in scope compared to the larger commercial wind farms that will soon be dotting the New Brunswick map, Gagnon said this will allow the economic benefits to stay inside the province.
“That is the crucial aspect of wind energy, you need to own the wind farm,” he said. “That is where you make the big money and community wind is the first step to having more ownership of wind farms here in New Brunswick.”
By Daniel McHardie
Canadaeast News Service
New Brunswick Business Journal
17 September 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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