October 1, 2023
Prince Edward Island

Hermanville, P.E.I. wind farm a ‘fiasco,’ local group tells MLAs

Stu Neatby · Journalist | Posted: Sept 30 | saltwire.com

About $10 million in repairs are due to be carried out at the Hermanville, P.E.I. wind farm after structural damage has rendered six of the 10 turbines at the site inoperable.

An Eastern Kings group is calling for an inquiry into costly breakdowns of the Hermanville wind farm, which have left six of 10 wind turbines idle.

The Hermanville turbines have been operating at reduced capacity for months due to these breakdowns. The P.E.I. Energy Corporation has estimated repairs to the non-functional turbines could cost taxpayers $10 million.

Speaking before a meeting of the standing committee on natural resources and environmental sustainability on Sept. 28, members of the Eastern Kings Community Association (EKCA) said the Hermanville Wind Farm was not a green project and was instead a “grey project.”

“The Hermanville wind park is a failure. It’s a fiasco, it’s an embarrassment,” Eastern Kings Community Association member Alan MacPhee told the committee.

“It operates at 31 per cent production. Sixty-five per cent production is needed in order for the project to become green. That’s because the carbon footprint to produce, transport and install these windmills is so huge.”

The Hermanville wind farm cost the province $60 million to build in 2014.

MacPhee said that, with the additional $10 million cost of repairs, taxpayers were on the hook for a $70-million loss.

“An inquiry is merited on what went on with the Hermanville wind project,” MacPhee said.

In an email statement on behalf of the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, representative Katie Cudmore wrote the province is aware the Hermanville site is “underperforming.”

“The newest fleet of Acciona 116/300 turbines are proving to require the largest amount of maintenance. The issue is the main bearings. One has failed and four others are at risk, and Acciona has limited those turbines to 50 per cent capacity,” Cudmore said.

Cudmore added that the $4.8 million received from the company represents “all liquidated damages payments owing to P.E.I. Energy Corporation.”

This amount is less than half the $10 million estimated cost to repair the damaged turbines.

During the committee meeting, the EKCA also called for a repeal of regulations made to the Renewable Energy Act, which allows the province to fully permit wind farm projects regardless of opinions of municipalities. It also called for another investigation into what it described as a conflict of interest of P.E.I.’s Minister of Environment being mandated to promote green energy projects

“People are making money off this. Consultants are making money off this,” MacPhee said.

MacPhee added another wind farm in the region, in North Lake, was an example of a well-run wind farm project.
Green interim leader Karla Bernard listens during a meeting of the standing committee on natural resources and environmental sustainability. Bernard appeared to agree with critics of wind farm projects in Eastern Kings. – Stu

A decade of controversy

Wind farms have been controversial in Eastern Kings for well over a decade.

The Hermanville project went ahead despite opposition from some nearby landowners. One publicly said he would sell his nearby property for one cent in protest.

This resident later sold his property and moved off-Island. The asking price of the sale ended up being significantly more than one cent, as reported in The Guardian in August of 2013.

More recently, a proposed expansion of another wind farm in Eastern Kings was met with opposition of the local council in 2020, which voted against permitting the project due to concerns over impacts on bird migration paths and on local habitats.

The P.E.I. government appealed the decision before the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, which overruled the municipality this year. IRAC described the reasoning from councillors to be “scant” and said councillors had not considered the province’s responses to environmental concerns.

The province’s conditions for approving the wind farm expansion had included the completion of bird and bat mortality monitoring studies by the P.E.I. Energy Corporation every two years.

The controversies have posed a challenge for the King government, which has pledged to achieve “net zero energy” by 2030.

Green interim leader Karla Bernard appeared to agree with the opposition from EKCA about the proposed expansion of the Eastern Kings wind farm. Bernard said community consultation and buy-in was critical for green energy projects.

“Obviously clean energy projects are crucial in P.E.I. moving forward – not at the expense of the environment,” Bernard said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2023/10/01/hermanville-p-e-i-wind-farm-a-fiasco-local-group-tells-mlas/