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 and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Alberta wind farm approved
Alberta regulators have approved Geilectric Inc.’s application to build a 69-megawatt wind farm in the blustery southwest corner of the province. Geilectric, which touts itself as being a no-employee entity managed by Montreal-based wind power player Eolectric, proposes to build the 26-turbine Welsch wind power project approximately 13 kilometres northeast of Pincher Creek. It appears to be the company’s first project in Alberta. The Alberta Utilities Commission announced its approval of the project and substation, with conditions, late Monday. Geilectric . . .
Wind farm contract awarded
Capital Power Corporation has hired Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Canada Inc. as the main contractor for construction of the Halkirk Wind Project, which could become the largest wind project in Alberta. “With the construction mobilization of Halkirk, RES Canada marks its entrance into the Alberta renewable energy market. This will be our first wind construction project in Western Canada as we continue to extend our green footprint,” said Jason Zingerman, vice president of construction with RES Canada. Capital Power LP . . .
Local school boards support initiative to harness wind power
Central Alberta schools may soon be harnessing the power of the wind. About 40 school divisions in the province — including Red Deer Public School District and Chinook’s Edge School Division — have expressed interest in joining the estimated $150-$200 million Alberta Schools Wind Power Project. The school boards are part of a 38-school board member consortium that was formed to negotiate utility contracts in 2003. The consortium is managed by school district business officials and directors of facilities. The . . .
Grasslands supports wind power project
Grasslands School Board has indicated they would be willing to participate in a Wind Power Project that would supply their electricity needs for the next 25 years at a fixed price. Grasslands joined more than 40 school boards across the province to support the project created by Alberta Schools Commodity Purchasing Consortium. Grasslands does not currently belong to the CPC but has signed an intent-to-participate letter to support the advancement of the project. The wind farm will be built in . . .
Montana-Alberta wind power line faces regulatory delays
CALGARY — A merchant power line linking wind generation in Montana to Alberta’s electricity grid will be delayed, but not as long as proponents had applied for. Provincial regulators denied Enbridge Inc. a request to extend permitting deadlines on the Montana-Alberta Tie Line by a year, instead granting the pipeline and energy giant a regulatory break until May 2012. Power line builder and operator AltaLink was included in Wednesday’s decision on the 230-kilovolt transmission line by the Alberta Utilities Commission, . . .
Blowing wind farms away
The Duke of Edinburgh did not mince any words when he was given an opportunity to express his opinion about wind farms this week. He called them very simply a fairy tale. He blasted those in favour of sinking more of other peoples’ money into the wind. The calculations, it would seem, have been based on the wind always being at an optimum level. It has meant the capacity for producing electricity from wind farms is inaccurate, said the Duke. . . .
Wind farms need watching
Re: “Kicking at agriculture development hides hypocrisy,” Will Verboven, Opinion, Nov. 8. Will Verboven accuses the Alberta Wilderness Association of “hypocrisy” because “this same conservation group does not oppose the proliferation of wind farms that have destroyed thousands of hectares of habitat and kills thousands of birds and bats every year.” Though the AWA does not oppose wind farms, we have consistently argued that wind development, like oil and gas development, has a significant footprint. Regulation of oil and gas . . .
School board backs down on wind turbine after protests
The city’s public school board is abandoning its plan to install a 43-metre wind turbine that would have towered over a southeast Calgary school ground because of opposition from area residents. But a top official with the Calgary Board of Education said Monday he hasn’t given up on the idea of installing a large-scale wind generator at one of its facilities. Frank Coppinger, the CBE’s superintendent of facilities and environmental services, said that since the proposed site at Dr. E.P. . . .
Transmission-line project ‘essentially out of funds,’ energy watchdog says
The Energy Department didn’t have enough safeguards to ensure protection of the $161 million the U.S. government invested in a transmission line that’s now two years behind schedule, the agency’s watchdog said. Inspector General Gregory Friedman criticized a lack of precautions taken by the Western Area Power Administration, a marketing authority within the Energy Department, before it helped finance a 214-mile (344-kilometer) line from Great Falls, Montana, to Lethbridge, Alberta. The Montana-Alberta Tie-Line would deliver electricity from wind farms in . . .
Calgary public school board drops plan to build wind turbine at E.P. Scarlett High School
The city’s public school board is abandoning its plan to install a 42.7 metre-high wind turbine in a school ground because of public concerns. When the Calgary Board of Education unveiled its proposal for the $290,000 machine at Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School during a public meeting last week, area residents complained they had not been adequately consulted. While officials said the noise from the nine-metre-long blades would not be audible in homes that are as little as 130 metres . . .
