Atlantic energy ministers promote wind power

NORTH CAPE, P.E.I. - - Atlantic Canada's energy ministers say their region will ride the winds of change to energy self-sufficiency.

The four ministers gathered at North Cape, the site of a wind farm, to promise a new era of regional co-operation and openness toward alternative sources of power.

In the shadow of several huge windmills, the ministers from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador said wind power will play an increasingly important role in securing the region's energy future.

"This is our oil," said P.E.I. Energy Minister Jamie Ballem, who has promised to significantly increase the Island's reliance on wind power by 2010.

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are also moving ahead with windmill projects.

The ministers said the provinces want to maximize the amount of renewable energy used in the regional electricity system.

"In Pubnico in southwestern Nova Scotia, two of 17 wind turbines are now operational," said Nova Scotia Energy Minister Cecil Clarke.

"When all 17 come on line before the end of this year, we'll see the equivalent of power for up to 13,000 homes. We're starting to fit into a model that's emerging and growing."

But the ministers said the wind doesn't have enough power to keep all the lights on, especially as the region moves toward an energy crunch that will begin in some provinces as early as 2007.

"Today the wind is blowing," Ballem said, looking toward the sleek windmills turning quickly in the strong breeze.

"When the wind isn't blowing, where are we going to get the power? That's where regional co-operation makes it easier for us, because we then have access to additional backstopping power."

The ministers said that when it comes to energy, there will be a kind of Atlantic union to make it easier to attract investors and catch the ear of Ottawa.

"There's strength in unity," said Newfoundland Energy Minister Ed Byrne.

The ministers said they have laid the groundwork for a regional Atlantic energy group that will identify ways to integrate electricity generation and markets.

New Brunswick Energy Minister Bruce Fitch said his province estimates it will be about 125 megawatts shy of its needs by 2007.

Prince Edward Island will also be experiencing shortages by 2007, while Nova Scotia estimates that by 2010, it will have to add about 300 megawatts of capacity to its power grid.

Newfoundland, blessed with abundant hydro power, is in good shape until about 2012.

"When you look at our aging infrastructure in this region, there's no question we have to make some significant decisions," Ballem said. "We're headed for some significant capital expenditures."

Fitch said New Brunswick is still wrestling with a decision on the fate of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant, the only nuclear station in Atlantic Canada.

He said the aging reactor has to be refurbished, at a cost of as much as $1.4 billion, or shut down.

"If it's not refurbished, that would leave a hole in the capacity, in the needs, not just for New Brunswick but for the provinces we're tied to as well," Fitch said.

On the positive side of the ledger, the ministers said they are all in favour of a proposed international power line linking the Maritime provinces and the New England system.

As well, Byrne said there should be a way to share the power from any development of the Lower Churchill Falls.

"It would go a long way to solving the potential energy crisis not only in Atlantic Canada, but in other parts of the country as well," the Newfoundland minister said.