February 26, 2008
New Brunswick

Wind project unveiled today

Premier Shawn Graham and Energy Minister Jack Keir will announce a wind energy west of Bathurst today.

Besides the event in Bathurst, Keir will make another announcement in Caraquet to do with renewable energy. Municipal leaders and others will attend the Caraquet event, but the minister’s staff offered no further details on Monday.

On the Bathurst announcement, Canadaeast News Service has learned that the province has entered into an agreement with a private company that will build a wind farm at Caribou Mountain.

The farm will feature 33 wind turbines that will generate a total of 99 megawatts of electricity, about enough to power 18,000 homes.

Graham will make this announcement at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre at 2 p.m. Keir and representatives of the firm with which the province has reached an agreement will join him.

The announcement moves the province within 200 megawatts of fulfilling its commitment of bringing 400 megawatts of renewable energy onto the grid by 2010.

Last month, NB Power announced agreements with the Spanish energy giant Acciona Wind Energy to build, own, and operate two wind farm projects, both to be completed by November 2009.

The 64.5-megawatt wind farm in Aulac will include 43 wind towers to produce enough energy for 10,300 homes.

The $100-million project on Lamèque Island will produce enough electricity to power nearly 9,000 homes. It will create between 50 and 75 full-time jobs during the construction phase.

Calgary-based TransAlta Corporation has signed an agreement with NB Power for a 96-megawatt project at Kent Hills in Albert County, with the first turbine to be operating by this fall. The project will have 32 turbines generating enough energy for about 17,300 homes.

A 21-megawatt project at Fairfield, near Dorchester, should power about 3,700 homes.

Last May NB Power released a request for proposals for up to 300 megawatts of wind-energy from private sector developers by November 2010.

The combination of those projects with the Fairfield and Kent Hills wind farms will allow NB Power to obtain 400 megawatts of wind energy by that date. That represents roughly 10 per cent of New Brunswick’s current generating capacity.

The province evaluates proposal on pricing, schedule, yearly production, reliability and added New Brunswick content.

Canadaeast News Service

Telegraph-Journal

26 February 2008


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/02/26/wind-project-unveiled-today/