The answer is blowing in the wind
Membertou summit targets renewable energy and innovation
A Membertou energy conference has been told that Nova Scotia has significant potential to develop wind power despite the demise of a provincial program that encouraged community-based renewable energy projects.
In an address to the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Energy and Innovation Summit on Tuesday, Austen Hughes, vice-president of Halifaxbased Natural Forces Technologies, Inc., acknowledged that other than projects already in the works, it’s unlikely any new small-scale wind farms will be built in the province in the immediate future.
“There is land available and the grid is available, so I think Nova Scotia is positioned very well, but rightly or wrongly our industry is always defined by policy,” said Hughes, who also heads the multi-company Wind4All collective that is now deploying 95 per cent of its resources outside of Nova Scotia.
“We don’t like that, but New Brunswick, for example, is where Nova Scotia was four or five years ago.”
Hughes directly attributes the slowdown in wind farm development to the August 2016 expiration the Nova Scotia Community Feed-in Tariff or Comfit, a program designed to encourage community-based, renewable energy projects by guaranteeing a rate-per-kilowatt hour for the power they contribute to the province’s electrical grid.
The program was established in 2011 and terminated last year when it reached its goal of bringing 100-megawatts of wind-generated electricity onto the Nova Scotia grid, while creating jobs and stimulating local economies.
One local entity that took advantage of the Comfit program is Cape Breton University, whose three operating turbines in nearby Gardiner Mines produce more juice than the postsecondary institution needs. The rest is sold to Nova Scotia Power at a locked-in rate of 13.1 cents per kilowatt-hour for a 20-year period.
But despite the slowdown, Hughes is confident the province can produce significantly more wind-generated power in the future.
He also told the Membertou conference that, as in the past, future wind development requires the forging of strong relationships between the various stakeholders.
Membertou’s chief operating officer Richard Paul agreed and advised those in attendance to make an extra effort to get to know Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq.
“It’s very important to engage us and to engage us early and to make sure you have us on side before you start — go in there with the spirit of gaining an understanding first before we talk,” said Paul, who added that First Nations people annually contribute more than one billion dollars to the Atlantic Canada economy.
Along with addressing the wind power issue, the Membertou summit included dialogues on energy efficiency, marine renewables, petroleum development and investment. It also served to celebrate Mi’kmaq success in creating positive community economic development projects, while facilitating discussions with business and government representatives.
The conference was hosted by Beaubassin Mi’kmaq Wind Management Ltd., a company collectively owned by all 13 Mi’kmaq band councils in Nova Scotia.