Confederation Power Inc intends to expand the wind farm in subsequent phases, whenever opportunities to sell the energy arise. Currently the only energy customer is Nova Scotia Power Inc and its needs for renewable energy are finite. The NSPI procurement approach involves competitive bids and there is no guarantee that Higgins Mountain will meet the lowest cost price target in any given RFP. However there may be change in provincial energy policy and opportunity may arise for Confederation Power Inc to sell energy generated at the Higgins Mountain site to customers other than NSPI either within or beyond provincial boundaries.  Accordingly the wind farm development cycle is expected to be completed by approximately 2015.

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Confederation Power Inc selected this site because it is one of only a few remote places in the province with a large land domain, good wind resources and proximity to a power line.  The company was particularly seeking to locate a large number of turbines where there would be minimal impact on surrounding populations. The Cobequid Mountain area is a good choice because of its remoteness and elevation.

As part of the development process an environmental screening assessment is underway for the expanded project. A copy of the Project Description Document that was sent to regulatory authorities can be downloaded here (Note: This is a BIG file).

The expanded project may encompass a wind farm of up to 100 MW in power output, and this could be comprised of up to 66 turbines if GE 1.5 MW wind turbines are selected. An alternative machine manufactured by Enercon is being considered for this site, with an output of 2 MW per machine. If this machine is selected the project would require 50 turbines.

The land parcel being considered for this project is huge, consisting of approximately 10,000 acres of managed forest.

A sample layout using 66 GE 1.5 MW machines is shown below:

The bulk of the project lies within Cumberland County, which recently instituted land use planning regulations in regards to wind turbines. The project will easily meet Cumberland County’s minimum setback from a residence of 500 meters per turbine. The layout shown above exceeds this minimum threshold by double. As a result, audible effects from the wind farm are expected to be minimal.  

Stakeholders in the surrounding communities have been made aware of the project by means of an Open House which was hosted in August 2007 at the Westchester Station Community Fire Hall. In advance of this event, flyers were posted in numerous public facilities, notices were published in newspapers and 500 invitations were mailed to land owners in the areas around the project land domain.  At the Open House meeting comments were solicited from guests, plus familiarization tours were offered at the Big Wind turbine up on the mountain.

Stakeholders who are concerned about the potential impacts of this project have formed a coalition called the Folly Lake-Wentworth Valley Environmental Preservation Society, and launched a web site at http://www.preservewentworthvalley.ca

A representative of Confederation Power Inc has had discussions with several of the members of this coalition and the company has learned much about their significant concerns. As a result of these exchanges of ideas, the project has undergone changes as follows:

• The minimum setback distance to residences has been increased from the original target of 750 meters to 1000 meters.
• A particular turbine that was close to residences at Wentworth Station was eliminated.
• Concerns expressed by the Wentworth Ski Hill about sunshine flicker from the turbine blades were addressed by means of an engineering study (which can be downloaded here) and the study demonstrated that there will be no significant flicker at the ski hill. Since this report was issued, we made the decision to move the closest turbine to another area of the land domain, however this turbine remains shown within the report. 
• Concerns from a group of snowmobile enthusiasts were listened to and a means was found to accommodate their wish to share winter roads with maintenance crews attending to turbines.
• Concern about impact on hiking trails was expressed and this will be factored into the road design process still to come.

As the environmental assessment process continues, other matters may be identified in the future. The detailed design will consider stakeholders’ interests. These concerns and proposed mitigations will be included in the environmental assessment report that will be filed with provincial and federal governments.. Stakeholders are invited to fill in a questionnaire that can be downloaded here.

Additional consultations with the community and stakeholders will occur. The company is planning another Open House in the summer of 2008.

The next generation of wind turbines will be slightly larger than the Vensys turbines now at the site. For comparison the schematic below shows the scale difference between the Vensys 62 and the Enercon E-82, currently considered to be the largest unit that would be deployed at this site. The E-82 and the GE 1.5 are approximately the same size.