July 25, 2012
Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Power hands over wind turbine study to Chester

By ADAM JACOBS | The Lunenburg County Progress Bulletin | 25 July 2012

CHESTER – The proposed wind turbine for the Kaizer Meadow Environmental Management Centre for the Chester district is back on track.

The project was delayed while the municipality was waiting on the results of an interconnection study performed by Nova Scotia Power. The study essentially was to determine the specific type of turbine the municipality should purchase.

Several weeks after it was expected to be completed, the interconnection study has landed in the hands of Chester council.

“Next we have to meet with Minas Basin [Pulp and Power Corporation] before we can go ahead and place an order,” Warden Allen Webber said. “There were some findings in the study that have changed the economics that we need to address.”

That meeting is scheduled for July 18. At that time Mr. Webber said the municipality will have a better idea of what time frame it is looking at for ordering the turbine.

He added the study found some extra costs to the municipality. That said, the purchase shouldn’t cost any more than expected because the wind turbine is being purchased from the European market. With the euro trading at near record lows against the U.S. dollar the municipality still stands to come in at or near budget on the purchase.

The municipality, as part of the province’s COMFIT program, is erecting a wind turbine at Kaizer Meadow, one that will plug into the Nova Scotia Power grid.

Minas Basin Pulp and Power Corporation has been contracted to erect the single 2.3-megawatt wind-to-energy turbine.

Minas Basin Pulp and Power has been collecting wind data for more than two years at the site.

The project cost is estimated at $5 million and will generate a positive cash flow beginning in Year 1 of just under $270,000.

Revenue is projected to increase annually over the 20-year life of the project to approximately $700,000 in Year 20.

The power generated at the site would be sold to Nova Scotia Power to be used on its distribution grid at the 20-year fixed rate of $131 per megawatt hour.

For more information on the program and to apply, visit http://www. nsrenewables.ca.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/07/25/nova-scotia-power-hands-over-wind-turbine-study-to-chester/