HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-05-02, Page 8Page 8 May 2, 2007 • The Huron Expositor
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Homework needed before using wind energy,
sayspeakers at renewable energyworkshop
Aaron Jacklin ria to receive the contract and,
thirdly, you've put yourself in
Wind energy isn't for everyone, _ _ . the position of being a small
according to one of the speakers
at a wind energy seminar at the
community centre in Brussels
recently.
Bill King is a consultant for
the Centre for Applied
Renewable Energy (CfARE) and
sales manager for Greenbreeze
energy systems.
"Do your homework," he said,
repeating that many times over
the course of the night.
Thirty-one people came out to
hear what King and Jennifer
Shergold, CfARE wind energy
lead, had to say about wind
energy.
They outlined the advantages
and disadvantages of the three
options for people wanting to
get involved in
this kind of
renewable ener-
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gy.
First is
going off the
grid, which
means discon-
necting from
the power grid
and relying
completely on a
wind turbine or
some combina-
tion of renew-
able sources for
all your elec-
tricity needs,.
"That's only
a very few peo-
ple who can do
that. You'd
have to have
nerves of steel
to do that, I
would think,"
said King.
The next
option is net
Aaron Jacklin photo
Bill King, Greenbreeze sales manager,
spoke at a recent wind energy seminar
at the Brussels community centre.
metering, where homeowners
are still connected to the elec-
tricity grid, but have a wind
turbine.
"Net metering measures the
quantity of electricity used and
the quantity of electricity that
you generate," Shergold
explained. "The result is a net
from which your bill is calculat-
ed."
She said people who generate
more electricity than they use
can accumulate energy credits
that will last up to 12 months.
"Hydro One does not pay you
for excess generation," she said,
"so it's really important to size
your system properly."
The third option discussed is
the standard offer program.
"That's where you become a
generator," King said. "You've
actively taken on a contract
with the government for 20
years, you've fulfilled the crite-
business."
The standard offer program
isn't available in this area
because of recent commitments
to retrofit the Bruce nuclear
generators. If the system isn't
built up, there will be what
King called a `lock' by 2009.
"In other words," he explained,
"the nuclear generators are
going to produce more power
than what the grid can handle."
King said the government
doesn't want any new genera-
tion on the grid affected by the
nuclear reactors.
"We are going to build it up,"
he said. "There's been $600 mil-
lion set aside to increase the
transmission lines so that is
going to alleviate the problem."
But in the meantime, King
said, "we're caught in a wee bit
of a flux."
King said that this is a
restricted area right now when
it comes to the standard offer
program, but that the net
metering option is still avail-
able.
Testing the wind is critical, he
said.
"This is my humble opinion,
but I would -suggest that any-
thing above 6.8, 6.9 metres per
second qualifies you for a wind
farm. Much below that, the
numbers are very, very tight."
King said that a typical wind
turbine is going to cost about
$2.5 million. Installation adds
another $1 million, which takes
into account things like building
roadways to the site, building
foundations, licenses and engi-
neering.
"I believe strongly that wind is
feasible," he concluded. "I
believe it's the right way to go.
But do your homework."
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