New Brunswick Invites Community Energy Projects

Province has set aside 75 megawatts of renewable energy for communities to harness through new program
KRIS MCDAVID
Times & Transcript Staff
MIRAMICHI - Anybody interested in harnessing the province's new Community Energy Policy should be prepared to sprint out of the gate to grab a piece of the limited energy allocation which is up for grabs.


This was one of the messages that came out of the Miramichi instalment of a series of information sessions being hosted by the provincial Department of Energy around the province over the next few weeks in advance of the energy program.

A handful of interested parties turned up to the workshop last night to learn more about the policy, including representatives from the City of Miramichi, Metepenagiag First Nation, Esgenoopetitj First Nation and Miramichi solar energy firm Southside Air.

Last month Energy Minister Jack Keir announced that 75 megawatts of energy would be available for renewable, community-owned energy projects during the first phase of the policy.

Energy initiatives in wind, solar, biomass, small hydro, and tidal power will be considered, and all qualifying projects must be majority-owned by communities or non-profit organizations as a condition of the program.

Of that 75 megawatt allotment, 25 megawatts will be set aside for First Nation communities whose renewable energy projects are accepted under the province's criteria.

The price paid back to communities for their energy by NB Power will be frozen at 10-cents per kilowatt hour until April 2015, at which point energy costs will ebb and flow as the consumer price index dictates.

Metepenagiag Chief Noah Augustine has stated his intention to try and get on board with the policy through a proposed $70-million plasma gasification plant which is being planned in conjunction with Ontario firm Sunbay Energy on the grounds of the former Nelson groundwood mill in Miramichi.

The plant would churn out 10 megawatts of clean, renewable energy through a high-tech process which would vaporize municipal waste and convert it into energy which is then sold back to the grid.

Augustine said he believes the energy policy is a proactive way for the province to promote New Brunswick as an environmentally responsible province, as well as a means of ensuring renewable energy profits benefit communities first.

He added, however, he's glad that his plasma gasification project is nearly finalized because the decision as to which projects will be able to sign a purchase of power agreement (PPA) with NB Power is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

"So it's essentially to the advantage of the projects that are ready to go now, and to the disadvantage of the ones that aren't as far along," Augustine said.

"Seventy-five megawatts won't last very long -- once the gates open up everybody is just going to go for it."

Business development officer Theo Losier agreed that initiatives which are further along in the process -- which includes various assessments, feasibility studies, capital requirements, environmental permitting, land agreements and a host of other steps -- will be at a distinct advantage.

Losier said the communities who wish to submit an official expression of interest in pursuing the policy have a limited amount of time to make up their minds, noting that the list will be posted to the department's website in May.

"This is for you guys, this is for the communities," Losier said. "The more projects we have, the better it is."

After hosting three previous sessions in windy locales such as Bathurst, Dalhousie and Caraquet to much fanfare, Losier estimated that about 90 per cent of the discussions so far have revolved around wind developments.

With the province already boasting a 96 megawatt wind farm in Kent Hills near Moncton, and a 99 megawatt farm at Caribou Mountain west of Bathurst, the appetite and expertise to extend wind energy is already there.

One of the aims of the energy policy, specifically relating to wind energy, is to allow individual communities to experience the financial windfall of the increasingly appealing technology rather than allowing all of the financial benefits to go to the large international energy corporations that currently own the province's two wind farms.

Carl Brothers, a P.E.I.-based wind energy guru, said while building even a small wind farm is no easy task; it can be accomplished successfully by communities as long as they do their homework.

A shining example of this is the recently completed 12 megawatt St. Eleanor's wind farm, located in and owned by the City of Summerside, P.E.I.

Brothers said the city was able to secure the proper funding through various loans and grants, and persevered through the many challenges that arise with projects as ambitious as wind farms.

A representative from Esgenoopetitj First Nation also expressed interest in pursuing wind energy in that community.

A similar forum is slated to take place from 6-8 p.m. at the Hampton in on Mapleton Road in Moncton on March 18.