Wind Power News: New Brunswick
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.
Down by the old mill stream
MILLTOWN DAM, ST. STEPHEN – A plunge in temperature overnight and an early morning wind chill is flash freezing water in white sheets on the banks of the river beside this 130-year-old dam that has one foot in New Brunswick and another in Maine.
Maintenance manager Jeff Babcock’s boots crunch on a crust of new snow as he walks from the front gate to the powerhouse, traversing the outlines of the foundation of the cotton mill that once dominated the landscape . . .
Ice halts northern New Brunswick wind farm
Northern New Brunswick’s cold, icy weather is causing wind turbines to freeze and stop producing power at the Caribou Wind Park near Bathurst.
The new wind farm’s 33 turbines have been generating power since November, but they have been forced to shut down for the past two days due to ice forming on some of the blades.
The wind farm has been battling ice problems all winter.
David Cousins, the Caribou Wind Park’s site manager, said when ice starts forming on the turbines’ . . .
Defining ‘community’ energy projects
Should an international company operating in eight countries qualify as a “small, community-based” producer of wind power?
That’s one question the government will need to answer when it releases its renewable energy strategy in the spring.
In January, Nova Scotia Power awarded six contracts to “small, community-based” enterprises. But one of the six went to Wind Prospect Inc., which has an office in Halifax, but is 90-per-cent owned by Wind Prospect Group Ltd. of England.
In what sense is a project like this . . .
New Brunswick unveils power plan
BERESFORD – Energy Minister Jack Keir says the provincial government’s freshly minted Community Energy Policy has the potential to provide lucrative and sustainable economic development to the communities that harness the plan.
Keir unveiled details of the new policy before a room full of economic development officials at a hotel in Beresford yesterday. The initiative will see 75 megawatts of electricity up for grabs, beginning in April, to communities looking to develop and sell their energy to the grid for a . . .
Power pact foes fear for project’s future
BATHURST – Energy Minister Jack Keir says the wind farm near Bathurst that was completed this month is the first of many such projects in the province’s north, but observers argue the proposed takeover of NB Power by Hydro-Québec will limit the prospects of similar ventures in future.
Caribou Wind Park, located 70 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, is joining the grid with a generating capacity of 99 megawatts – enough electricity to power some 19,000 homes.
GDF SUEZ Energy North America invested . . .
P.E.I. Opposition wants N.B. power guarantees
P.E.I.’s Conservative Opposition has asked New Brunswick to sign a deal guaranteeing access to transmission lines through the province if NB Power is sold to Hydro-Québec.
The premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia made a similar request in a joint letter earlier this month, saying they’re concerned their provinces will be cut off from the lucrative energy markets in the northeastern United States.
But P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz hasn’t asked for any guarantees, said energy critic Mike Currie.
“His silence is . . .
Sackville passes by-laws for wind turbines; Council divided over zoning regulations
Debate about the development of wind power within the town of Sackville has been widespread in the last two months, as the introduction of bylaws by the planning commission were tabled before the town council. The by-laws cover both turbines for individual use, and wind farms, with a generation capacity exceeding three megawatts. At the council meeting on November 9, the by-laws passed by a vote of 4-3, setting regulations for both single turbines in Sackville’s rural-residential zones, and wind . . .
Politician says it’s time the neighbouring jurisdictions sat down to discuss respective needs
Politicians on both sides of the New Brunswick-Maine border agree a solution is possible that would please all sides in the debate over the proposed creation of an energy corridor leading from New Brunswick through neighbouring Maine.
But it’s impossible to come up with a solution if the potential partners aren’t even talking, says Maine Rep. John Martin (D-Eagle Lake).
Martin said Thursday Maine politicians had no advance warning of the proposed sale of most of NB Power’s assets to Hydro-Québec and . . .
Wind power regulations approved in 4-3 vote
Sackville now has a set of guidelines in place for future wind power development in the community.
Despite contentious debate last week over whether the town should open itself up to wind energy proposals at all, council decided in the end it was best to put the needed regulations in place instead of leaving the town without a strategy to guide a sector that is fast developing around the world.
Coun. Margaret Tusz-King said the new wind power regulations, which were approved . . .
New Brunswick open to adding power lines
Even before Hydro-Quebec tentatively acquired NB Power, it turns out the Quebec government-owned utility was already taking up all the export capacity in NB Power’s transmission system, leaving no room for anyone else to export electricity to New England.
But New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir says that doesn’t prevent Nova Scotia or Newfoundland or anyone else from building a transmission line across New Brunswick.
In a conference call with The Chronicle Herald’s editorial board on Friday, Keir was trying to clarify . . .
