December 17, 2013
Nova Scotia

Provincial government approves Nine Mile River wind project

Ashley Thompson | The Hants Journal | Published on December 16, 2013 | www.hantsjournal.ca

Construction is slated to begin on a four-megawatt wind farm mapped out for the Renfew area in the spring.

Environment Minister Randy Delorey signed off on the environmental assessment for the Nine Mile River Community Wind Project, led by Scotian WindFields Inc., Scotian Wind Inc., and WEB Wind Energy North America Inc., on Dec. 9.

The $10-million to $12-million project will see two turbines installed on a leased woodlot Elmsdale Lumber owns about 13 kilometres northwest of Enfield.

Dan Roscoe, chief operating officer of Scotian WindFields, says all of the municipal approvals have been acquired for the project, and annual taxes will be paid to the Municipality of East Hants.

“We’re quite excited,” said Roscoe. “We have over 1,000 shareholders throughout Nova Scotia, so this marks another step in our development of our projects, which will benefit all of our investors.”

Roscoe says the plan is to build roads, foundations and install power lines in the spring and summer. He predicts the turbines, situated 1.3 kilometres from the nearest dwelling, may be generating wind energy at the site by as early as the fall.

“We have over 30 shareholders from the East Hants area that will obviously benefit from this project and every project that we do.”

The project will generate energy that will be sold to Nova Scotia Power, and money that will be put back into the host community.

“We put a one per cent community dividend in place, which goes for the general benefit of the whole community.”

Scotian WindFields Inc. is currently managing 13 projects awarded through the community feed-in tariff program.

The Martock Ridge Community Wind Project proposed for the Mills Lake Watershed area in Three Mile Plains has received approval from Nova Scotia Environment, but the company is still in the process of securing a development agreement through the Municipality of West Hants.

Roscoe says a public meeting about the Martock Ridge project will be hosted in West Hants Jan. 9, 2014.

The environment minister’s review of the environmental assessment submitted for the Nine Mile River project can be viewed online by visiting: www.novascotia.ca/nse/ea/nine-mile-river.asp.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/12/17/provincial-government-approves-nine-mile-river-wind-project/