Wind Power News: Alberta
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Province aims to protect bats
With the growth of the wind energy industry in Southern Alberta, the development of protocol to protect the province’s migratory bat population is now underway.
Lisa Wilkinson, a species at risk biologist with Alberta Fish and Wildlife and head of the Alberta Bat Action Team (ABAT), said Alberta was a North American pioneer in establishing pre-construction guidelines for wind farm operators.
Now, ABAT is working with the provincial government and representatives from the wind energy industry to create post-construction protocol in order . . .
Planners seeking proposals for city wind projects
The deadline is fast approaching to apply for a pilot project testing the merits of wind turbine energy in a Red Deer neighbourhood.
Parkland Community Planning Services is seeking requests for proposals until Tuesday, March 9.
City planning manager Nancy Hackett said the city wants to do a wind turbine project to determine if there is noise or other potential negative impacts.
“It would demonstrate to the community what it looks like, what it sounds like,” Hackett said.
City planners have been looking into . . .
Opposition growing to proposed wind farm northeast of Calgary
People opposed to a massive wind farm planned in an area northeast of Calgary will get a chance to say their piece.
The Alberta Utilities Commission is now evaluating an application for the Ghost Pine wind project, which would see 54 turbines erected in Kneehill County.
Operated by Fortuna GP, Inc., the wind farm would generate 81 megawatts of electricity.
While some landowners have struck agreements to have turbines raised on their farms, others say they fear the health effects caused by noise . . .
Wind-turbine plan envisions switch to nuclear
Tiny nuclear reactors originally designed to power mini-submarines could eventually replace wind power in a local firm’s plans for storing energy as compressed gas in pipelines across North America.
Dave McConnell, president and CEO of Niskubased Lancaster Wind Systems, said Tuesday the additional details of his project can now be discussed after provisional patent protection was gained in the U.S. late last week.
McConnell said he already has a patented wind turbine that will be going into further trials this summer in . . .
The new wind power landscape
Once recognized as the national leader in the development of wind power in the country, Alberta has since fallen behind Ontario and Quebec in advancing the alternative energy source.
However, the first two of what promises to be many wind farms in Southeastern Alberta may cut into those eastern provinces’ lead.
Wild Rose 1 and 2 wind power projects have been simmering on the backburner for the last six years, being transferred through business acquisitions and jumping through regulatory hoops as the . . .
Some landowners want a more farm-friendly deal from Tonbridge
Some Montana farmers still are worried about how the Montana Alberta Tie Line will affect farming operations and say they want impacts minimized before they sign final agreements with developer Tonbridge Power Co.
“We want it done as farming friendly as possible, and we’ve had to really work on this,” said Lee Otness, who farms near Brady.
Otness said Tonbridge hasn’t threatened the use of eminent domain but said that possibility still is hanging over the heads of landowners despite assurances from . . .
MATL could unleash torrent of wind projects
A biting wind whipped across the snow-covered Montana prairie as Clayton Larsen and John Mattheis took soil samples from 30 feet below the surface north of Conrad late last week.
The men, who work for SK Geotechnical in Billings, are helping to build the $215 million, 230-kilovolt Montana Alberta Tie Line — a transmission line that could be the key to the future of wind development in the region.
With calls for more renewable energy increasing, new plain-looking pole-and-wire projects such as . . .
Alberta windfarm clears major regulatory hurdle
A Calgary company has been granted approval by the Alberta Utilities Commission to construct a wind farm near the village of Halkirk, which could become the largest project of its kind in the province.
“From a regulatory perspective, we have been working on this project for three years and just received final regulatory approval on December 31,” said Dan Balaban, president and CEO of Greengate Power.
“We still have some additional things to do in terms of regulatory approval, but they are . . .
100 new wind turbines going up near Red Deer
The federal government is helping to bankroll a plan to build 100 massive wind turbines east of Red Deer.
Greengate Power Corp. says Ottawa is kicking in $46 million into the $350-million project.
The federal cash is from Ottawa’s eco-green fund.
The turbines will produce 150 megawatts of power when they begin operating in 2011.
The turbines, about 80 metres tall, will be placed on both sides of Highway 12 between the communities of Halkirk and Castor.
The company says it is developing nine wind . . .
Alberta consumers to feel pinch as power line bill passes
Consumers will ultimately feel a jolt on their power bills after the Stelmach government passed Wednesday its controversial Bill 50 on electricity transmission — legislation political opponents, landowners and utility company Enmax insist Albertans will live to regret.
After months of heated debate over the need for billions in new power lines–a fight that ensnared consumers, politicians and power companies — the majority Tory government ensured easy passage in the legislature of Bill 50, the Electric Statutes Amendment Act.
Designed to expedite . . .
