TRURO - A new wind farm being proposed for a portion of Colchester County could see the municipality churning out an additional $300,000 in annual revenues.
"We've identified 41 great locations, in our opinion," said Rueben Burge, president of RMSenergy, the company that owns the 34-turbine wind farm on Dalhousie Mountain in Pictou County.
"We're proposing 50 megawatts. It's about enough electricity for another 20,000 homes."
A new company called Dalhousie Mountain Wind Farms Inc. has been created for the proposed second phase, which is to be known as the Clydesdale Ridge Wind Farm, and is targeted in response to the province's mandate to have 25 per cent of Nova Scotia's electricity generated through renewable resources.
Of the 41 potential sites that have been identified, the company is proposing to erect about 10 turbines in Colchester County and 20 in Pictou County adjacent to the existing turbines on Dalhousie Mountain.
"This particular project, it starts in Pictou County and it extends out into the Berichon Road, the Berichon number one, and into Clydesdale, the old Clydesdale Road," Burge told Colchester County council. "So, it's well far away from homes and from general impact. Although, you know, if people can see them from any angle it's an impact. So we've made a huge attempt to reduce that."
Burge told council that all efforts are being made to reduce or alleviate any environmental issues and that the proposed project would be using identical turbines to those in use on Dalhousie Mountain.
That wind farm, which has been operational since 2009, has yet to generate a single negative complaint from any member of the public, local landowners or government stakeholders, in relation to any developments or operational issues, he said.
Burge also said the Dalhousie wind farm is meeting its stated goals of providing enough electricity to power 20,000 homes.
"So I think it is being effective," he said. "Wind energy is sometimes accused of being ineffective and not having enough results."
The company has completed its environmental studies, public information sessions have been held and it is planning to register project documents in February, after which a public review period will begin.
