Ottawa invests in New Brunswick wind farm

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK - New Brunswick homes and businesses will be reducing their environmental footprint and using more clean renewable energy thanks to an investment by the federal government.

Rob Moore, Member of Parliament for Fundy Royal, on behalf of the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, announced support for the Kent Hills Wind Farm through an investment of $29 million under the ecoENERGY for Renewable Power Program.

"This investment strengthens our goal of ensuring that more clean, renewable energy is delivered to Canadians at competitive prices," said Mr. Moore. "Not only will this wind farm help protect our environment, but this green energy technology will also help stimulate the economy and create jobs for Canadians."

The 96 megawatt Kent Hills Wind Farm is located 30 kilometers from Moncton, in Albert County. The wind farm is the first to begin commercial operation in New Brunswick and will provide approximately 290,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year from 32 turbines. This electricity will be sold to New Brunswick Power to meet the needs of over 17,000 homes.

The $1.48 billion ecoENERGY for Renewable Power Program provides a one cent per kilowatt-hour incentive for up to 10 years. The goal of the program is to increase Canada's supply of clean electricity from renewable sources such as wind, biomass, low-impact hydro, geothermal, solar photovoltaic and ocean energy. It will encourage the production of about 4,000 MW of new electricity from renewable-energy sources - enough emissions-free electricity to power about one million homes.

An additional $2.4 billion is provided by Canada's Economic Action Plan to support a cleaner and more sustainable environment and help meet Canada's climate change objectives. This funding includes a new, five-year, $1-billion Clean Energy Fund and a $1-billion Green Infrastructure Fund.