Canada - Métis group to harness wind

A Toronto company is teaming up with a Métis organization in Newfoundland and Labrador to build the largest wind power project in Canada. The $2.5-billion wind farm will include roughly 330 giant turbines that will stretch across central Labrador and hook up to the Churchill Falls power station. The project is expected to generate 1,000 megawatts of power, enough to provide electricity for 500,000 homes. “It'll be the largest wind farm in the country,” said John Douglas, president and chief executive officer of Toronto-based Ventus Energy Inc., a private company that is spearheading the project with Métis Development Corp., based in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nfld. “These are huge economic development engines and we are delighted that we've got such a good strong local partner to work with.”

Mr. Douglas said he hopes to start construction next year, with the first power deliveries by late 2007. He added that Ventus has had discussions with the province, Labrador Hydro and potential customers and said other partners are expected to join the venture. “We like the partnership model,” Mr. Douglas said. “We think it brings incredible synergies and the local support side of the equation. In this case in particular, in the struggling economy of Labrador, this is just a Godsend to them and they are very excited.” Métis Development Corp., or MDC, was created in 2003 as the investment arm of the Labrador Métis Nation, the largest aboriginal group in Newfoundland, with about 5,000 members. Jamie Snook, MDC's general manger, said his group has been working with Ventus since last summer on the wind project. The wind farm will be MDC's third investment. “There is no doubt that there will be significant dividends on a long-term basis that will be created for us under this project,” Mr. Snook said. The Innu Nation also has land claims in the area, but Mr. Snook said that won't hamper the project and he expects strong support from other aboriginal groups in the region. “I guess Labrador is used to dealing with developers over the last number of years,” he said, referring to the Voisey's Bay nickel mine. Mr. Douglas, a former investment banker, created Ventus in 2003 and the company is working on 25 wind projects, including one with the Cree Nation in James Bay, Que. He said the Labrador wind farm will be financed entirely by private investors. “There are all kinds of institutions, pension plans and large money managers that are looking for long-term, lower-risk, 20-year-type energy investments,” he said. “We are highly confident that the project financing is there and we don't need a dollar from the federal or provincial governments.”

Wind power has become one of the world's fastest-growing energy sources. The industry has soared in recent years thanks in part to rising energy costs and incentives from various governments. The amount of wind power in Canada has grown from around 150 megawatts in 2000 to roughly 820 megawatts today. The Canadian Wind Energy Association expects that figure to be above 5,000 megawatts by 2010, which would represent about 2 per cent of the country's total electricity supply. Mr. Douglas said one of the advantages of the Labrador project is that the turbine towers will be located in a remote area, far away from anyone who doesn't like them. “There is nobody within hundreds of kilometres,” he said. “So, the issue of ‘not in my backyard' or ‘we don't like what these things look like' doesn't exist up there.”