Wind turbines set to power up in November
Published Friday October 31st, 2008
Energy Premier and energy minister tour first New Brunswick wind farm
Atlantic Canada's largest wind farm will begin powering New Brunswick more than one month earlier than projected.
At least half of the 32 wind turbines at TransAlta Wind's Kent Hills project 40 southwest of Moncton will make it onto NB Power's grid by mid- to late-November instead of the Dec. 31 projection, Dawn Farrell of TransAlta's commercial operations and development said Thursday.
Just two wind turbines are left to go up - likely by the end of the weekend, the executive vice-president said.
Each tower is 24 storeys high, its blade rotation about 90 metres in diameter - the length of a Canadian football field from end-to-end.
The turbines will power about 17,500 homes, the company said.
TransAlta toured three busloads of visitors through the maple sugar bush of Albert County on Thursday to view the $170-million project in the making.
The construction site that has attracted locals since May will be cleared out, with cranes leaving after the turbines go up.
Premier Shawn Graham and Energy Minister Jack Kier were on hand to support New Brunswick's first wind farm, though no public dollars were spent on the project.
NB Power still has another 97 megawatts of wind energy to award through its request for proposals process, and Kier suggested the Kent Hills site would be in line to get another contract, if the price is right.
"If we can make the business case work and it's the best price for NB Power and it works for TransAlta, we'd love to have more wind farms up here," Kier said.
TransAlta has a 25-year contract with NB Power.
The company told the Telegraph-Journal it had made submissions that were rejected to add more turbines to the 32 in the contract, projecting that another 16 turbines could be added.
Kier said NB Power and TransAlta are still negotiating.
An NB Power spokesperson would not reveal how much the utility will be spending on wind energy when Kent Hills comes online.
The industry standard for a project of its magnitude is about eight to 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
Wind power is only competitive to fossil fuel sources when commodity prices are high. But oil's recent drop thanks to fears of a global recession mean it is hovering around US$65 per barrel.
NB Power spokesman Michel Losier said that since the utility is buying energy at prices a year and a half old, Kent Hills' prices won't break the bank.
"We are definitely in the high oil of 18 months ago, so there's no question this wind energy is finding its place on the market," Losier said.
Yves Gagnon, the Université de Moncton professor who mapped out the province's wind energy potential, said the Kent Hills project is a "first step" for New Brunswick as it moves towards embracing renewable energy in general.
"Renewable energy does not emit greenhouse gas, which causes climate change," Gagnon said. "It's quite positive that New Brunswick has made the shift."
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