July 9, 2013
Nova Scotia

One turbine approved at Whynotts Settlement

Keith Corcoran, 09 July 2013 | www.southshorenow.ca

WHYNOTTS SETTLEMENT – With conditions attached, Nova Scotia’s Environment Department last week approved a wind energy project in this community.

The Whynotts Wind Limited Partnership registered a proposed Whynotts Community Wind Project for environmental assessment back in May.

The partnership is a collaboration between a Bedford-registered company headed by Keith Towse, a Mi’kmaq rights organization, and the Canadian subsidiary of a large renewable energy project development firm. They want to construct and operate a four-megawatt wind project on an approximately 100-hectare-size site off the Mullock Road.

Together, the two turbines would be expected to generate enough energy to power more than 1,200 Nova Scotian homes. The project is being built via the province’s community feed-in tariff program, which allows specific community-based groups to sell the energy to Nova Scotia Power at a set rate.

The turbines are expected to be approximately 100 metres high at the hub, with blades about another 50 metres long. The nearest home to the site is said to be more than 500 metres away.

The partnership anticipated construction to start in spring 2014 with operations to begin that fall or winter. But the province has only given approval for one turbine for now.

The relocation of the second unit “will require consultation with Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Division regarding wetland proximity, and Nova Scotia Environment regarding noise, setbacks, ice throw and shadow flicker,” Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau said in a July 2 letter.

Final locations have to be approved by the province and if the conditions can’t be met the second turbine won’t get the green light.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/09/one-turbine-approved-at-whynotts-settlement/