OWEN SOUND, Ont. — A Progressive Conservative will be asking the Ontario legislature for a provincewide moratorium on wind farms.
Bruce-Grey-Owen-Sound member Bill Murdoch wants the province’s chief medical officer of health to look into whether wind turbines cause health problems for residents who live near them.
Murdoch says the government has a responsibility and mandate to look into claims that wind turbines cause sleep deprivation and stress, among other things.
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Neither of the companies that announced the transfer of development rights for a massive wind farm on Lake Erie owns those rights, Ontario authorities told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources disputed accounts offered the day before by a U.S. company, which said it had acquired and was selling the rights to operate giant wind turbines on the Canadian half of Lake Erie, and a Canadian company that said it was buying those rights.
Utah-based Wasatch Wind Inc. said it was transferring rights to a 4,400-megawatt “offshore wind prospect” to Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. of Calgary, Alberta.
Canadian Hydro, a publicly traded company, affirmed in a separate statement that it was acquiring those rights. The pact received widespread news coverage in Canada.
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See also “Canadian Hydro plans offshore wind farm in Lake Erie”
TORONTO — South Korean electronics and industrial giant Samsung is in talks with the Ontario government to establish a renewable energy business in the province.
In a release, Ontario says talks have been ongoing for months and progress is being made toward an agreement.
In May, Samsung announced plans to enter the wind turbine market in 2010.
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Erie Shores Wind Farm
The changes were part of a bundle of key new policies designed to spark home-grown green manufacturing, as well as the wide deployment of its products — everything from small, rooftop solar panels to industrial-sized wind farms.
But in trying to strike a balance between competing interests, the Liberals appear to have rattled all sides in the debate.
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Ontario expects to cover the total cost and provide “a reasonable rate of return” for investments in green energy projects through decades-long contracts with fixed electricity prices.
The government said it is the first program of its kind in North America.
Solar, wind, water, biomass, biogas and landfill gas producers, including individual homeowners, will all be eligible to sell their power to the provincial grid under the program, one of the four final components of the Ontario Green Energy Act announced by Premier Dalton McGuinty Thursday.
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TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s wind power companies are getting a lift from rising oil prices, a healthier economy and energy-friendly government policies, even as tight capital markets continue to curb the recovery of the fledgling sector.
A C$654 million ($611 million) takeover bid by TransAlta Corp for Canadian Hydro Developers, the country’s biggest wind energy producer, has also boosted investor sentiment and signaled wind power is both viable and here to stay, analysts say.
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Ontario plans to launch a centralized wind forecasting service next year, its bulk electricity manager said on Tuesday, as it tries to add more wind-generated energy to its grid.
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and biggest energy consumer, already leads the other provinces in installed wind energy capacity, with 1,200 megawatts of power. But it wants to increase this and is seeking other sources of clean energy as it phases out dirty coal-fired power stations.
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An Ottawa resident who has been lobbying to put a wind turbine in his backyard in the city’s Westboro neighbourhood has been told that his project is grinding to a halt.
Graham Findlay had applied for a variance to install what’s known as an “energy ball” on his property near Island Park Drive.
Findlay is a commercial wind arm developer with Ottawa-based 3G Energy Corporation and has said that he wants to mount that “energy ball” on a pole in his backyard to make it 10 metres high so he can produce his own energy at home.
In October, the city refused to approve his application to mount the turbine in his backyard, so he appealed through the Ontario Municipal Board.
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TORONTO, Jun 29, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Ontario, Canada was hailed as North America’s wind energy leader recently at an international conference in South Korea, where George Smitherman, Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, accepted the 2009 World Wind Energy Award.
The World Wind Energy Association presented its annual award to Minister Smitherman for his “outstanding achievements in making Ontario the leading wind energy jurisdiction in North America.” The international association also recognized the Minister’s role in championing Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act, calling the recently adopted legislation a decisive step toward establishing a strong domestic wind industry in the province and making it a worldwide green leader.
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