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Could wind-farm project drive boom in northern N.B.?
Published Thursday August 14th, 2008
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By MATT MCCANN
Canadaeast News Service

SAINT JOHN - Two proposed wind farms in northern New Brunswick could become an extension of the southern energy hub, says one expert.

Shear Wind Inc. announced Tuesday it's studying two sites in the province, one in Benjamin River near Campbellton, and another at Mann Siding, between Campbellton and Grand Falls.

Both projects, which could bring $2 billion into the province, would begin as 150-megawatt farms with the potential to expand up to 500 megawatts each.

The estimated cost of both projects is $585 million.

"It's good that they're targeting the north," said Anne Hebert, executive director of the Conseil Economique Nouveau Brunswick. "You hear about projects coming in, but they usually end up coming to the south."

But Hebert said there needs to be a partnership so that northern communities can get something out of the project, either through jobs or money flowing back into the community.

"At first glance, of course, it could be a great thing," she said. "But who's going to benefit from it the most? Where is the dollar going to go?

"Is it going to go mainly to a company that comes from outside, or is there going to be community involvement?"

The economic development in the south is a cycle that perpetuates itself, she said. Good roads and four-lane highways mean it's easier to get goods in and out, and that kind of solid infrastructure is attractive to companies.

Hebert said a wind farm in the area would help the north, hopefully by having firms working as suppliers, service providers, maintenance crews or construction crews.

"Not just windmills," she said, "but value-added, so we have an industry that supports it."

However, Yves Gagnon, the K.C. Irving chair in sustainable development at the Universite de Moncton, said a wind farm typically doesn't create a lot of jobs.

There are initial construction jobs when it's built, he said, but the turbine, which represents about 75 per cent of the cost, will probably be purchased from outside of Canada.

The other 25 per cent would be local expenses, but Gagnon said only a few dozen jobs would be created.

"When you look at the big picture of the cash flow of wind farms, the money is quite small," he said. "The most significant proportion of money is in the profit generated by the wind farm, and therefore the owners of the wind farm.

"The benefit is through land-lease agreements, fees paid to landowners to put the turbine on their land. Or to government if the wind turbines are installed on Crown land."

That is, if the project moves from proposal to reality. For that to happen, two major obstacles need to be overcome.

"One is getting a contract for people to purchase the electricity," said Gagnon. "Then there's a barrier to bring that electricity to the consumer, because of the limitation of transmission lines from New Brunswick to New England, and that's a real problem right now."

Though Energy Minister Jack Keir has previously acknowledged bottlenecks and legal irritants in New England, he remained confident New Brunswick could compete in the New England market.