Hydro officials aim to quell community concerns over wind farm
Toronto Hydro officials attempted to allay community concerns last night regarding a potential wind farm being considered for the city’s eastern waterfront.
“It may not be the highest wind producing area in Ontario but is it sufficient, which is why we want to proceed to do the research,” Joyce McLean, the company’s director of strategic issues, told about 900 residents inside an auditorium of a Guildwood high school.
Hydro officials would like to begin a two-year research project to test the viability of a wind farm in Lake Ontario. The proposal is to install a device, called an anemometer, that measures wind speed and direction.
The anemometer would be affixed to the bottom of the lake and would tell hydro officials whether there is enough wind along a 25-kilometre corridor from Ajax to around Cherry Beach.
If the area proved to be viable, the swath of land could hold 60 turbines built two to four kilometers from the shore.
“Health issues, noise, visual [issues], these are all community concerns,” said Roy Wright, a 66-year-old retired artist.
Mr. Wright is a member of a grassroots Guildwood organization that is worried about the efficiency of a wind farm and how it could damage the Scarborough bluffs.
“This is the last natural wildlife area on the Toronto waterfront. It’s ecologically sensitive.”
Community members expressed worry about illness associated with the low frequency sounds emitted from wind turbines. Officials believe the noise will be reduced once it reaches the shore but an environmental assessment is needed.
Area residents Madeleine and Ross Bacon are looking to buy a property overlooking the lake. Even so, they came to the meeting with an open mind.
“If it’s feasible and it is beneficial then I’m for it,” she said.
A wind farm on the site might prove economical due to its proximity to Toronto, which has major energy needs, said Ms. McLean.
“It’s the fastest growing source of electricity supply in the world,” she said before the meeting. “The Ontario government is going to shut down all of the coal plants, we need a new electricity supply in the province.”
There are no fuel costs associated with the wind farm, she added. “It will level prices for consumers over time.
By Melissa Leong
20 January 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
Some possibly related stories:
- Wind anemometer meeting a three-ring circus
- Wind turbine plan concerns Guildwood residents; Toronto Hydro tests possibility of wind farm in Lake Ontario
- Scarborough residents in huff over bluffs wind farm proposal
- A mighty wind blows against proposed Bluffs' turbine farm
- Hydro to test wind power in lake off Bluffs
- Hydro’s wind plans face stiff opposition
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