LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Wind, Link options debated 

Credit:  JOANN ALBERSTAT, BUSINESS REPORTER | The Chronicle Herald | June 5, 2013 | thechronicleherald.ca ~~

Local opposition to wind farms could be a stumbling block to relying on that power source instead of building the proposed Maritime Link, a Nova Scotia Power lawyer said Wednesday.

Terry Dalgleish made the suggestion during a provincial Utility and Review Board hearing in Halifax while questioning an interveners’ consultant about “local concerns” surrounding wind farms.

“It would be logical to expect that if wind penetration were to double or triple, or more, from what we’ve seen so far in Nova Scotia, that such concerns would loom larger, right?” the Calgary lawyer asked Paul Chernick.

Chernick, an energy expert working for the consumer advocate, agreed local concerns may increase if more wind farms were built. But the outcry wouldn’t likely be proportional to the amount of electricity being added to the grid, he said.

“If you have more (wind farm) sites, there are more places where you’re going to have to think about whether there are problems,” said Chernick, president of Arlington, Mass.-based Resource Insight Inc.

“On the other hand, as wind penetration rises, and people become used to seeing wind turbines, and accepting them as part of the landscape like they do utility poles, then the initial concerns about how they’ll affect the community … may decrease.”

While Nova Scotia Power’s lawyer pointed to local opposition being an obstacle, other backers of the $1.5-billion subsea cable plan have told the regulator that technical issues and cost are greater concerns.

NSP Maritime Link Inc., the cable’s would-be owner, has told the regulator that the grid would need 750 to 1,000 megawatts of wind capacity to be an alternative to the Link.

The system now has some 300 megawatts of wind. The amount will increase to about 500 megawatts in 2015, when three wind farms and several smaller community-based projects will be operational.

Potentially doubling that amount would give the province a wind capacity that is rarely seen anywhere in the world.

Denmark would be the only place with more wind power if Nova Scotia went that route, a provincial consultant testified earlier this week.

Nova Scotia Power officials have testified they believe it is technically possible to add that much wind power to the grid but further study is needed to determine the potential impact on system reliability.

On the cost front, NSP Maritime Link has said relying on wind farms would cost $1 billion to $1.9 billion more over 35 years than the cable proposal. That includes building natural gas fired-power plants to back up wind generation.

But critics of the Link plan say Emera Inc. and its affiliates have overestimated the amount of wind power that would be needed, used rosy load projections and are also off on their cost projections for other options.

Consultant Levitan & Associates, for instance, said wind or other power imports may cost ratepayers less in the long run than tapping into hydroelectric power from Labrador’s Muskrat Falls project.

Richard Levitan, the firm’s president, told the board Wednesday that the Link idea “has merit.” But he said it is “disappointing” that the proponents haven’t done a more detailed study of the project and alternatives.

“This is an extraordinary project and it rises to the level of meriting the most rigorous financial, engineering economic and econometric assessment,” said Levitan, whose Boston firm is working for the consumer and small-business advocates.

The board has until the end of July, under a government-imposed deadline, to rule on the Link plan.

The hearing, being held at Saint Mary’s University, enters its ninth day today.

Source:  JOANN ALBERSTAT, BUSINESS REPORTER | The Chronicle Herald | June 5, 2013 | thechronicleherald.ca

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon