After reading Chris Benjamin’s story (“Breaking wind,” September 10)
I felt compelled to comment on several sides of the wind power
argument. As an electrical engineer working for a consulting firm
directly involved in many of the operational and planned wind energy
projects in Nova Scotia, I have experienced the polarization of public
opinion regarding these projects. I don’t know which side is right, but
I do know that wind energy will only begin to create the sustainable
and self-sufficient energy grid that Nova Scotia must develop.
If you ask almost any Bluenoser if their neighbourhood is windy,
they will say that the wind never stops blowing—I know, I’ve asked.
The truth is, it doesn’t always blow: sometimes it dips and sometimes
it completely dies. Wind is caused by temperature variation, and
temperature variation isn’t always there. The resulting fluctuations
mean we cannot rely on wind energy to be available when we need it. We
can only use it when it is available to offset non-renewable fuel
sources.
A second point: Nova Scotia Power—love them or hate them—is a
privately owned utility charged with providing safe, reliable
electricity to the citizens of Nova Scotia. The company’s operating
principles require that they have electricity available when their
customers require it. Wind energy alone cannot accomplish this.
Unless we have a way to store wind energy (such as pumped storage)
or can rely on the non-renewable resources from neighbouring provinces
when wind energy isn’t available, there are limits to its
effectiveness. While both options are viable, both are high in cost.
That cost must either come from a wind energy sales cost, from the
provincial government in the form of higher taxes, or from Nova Scotia
Power in the form of raised electricity rates. In the long run, we, or
more likely our children, will save on barely existent fuel costs and a
cleaner environment, but it will require an upfront investment of
astronomical value. This investment is almost certainly a necessity,
but when the bill arrives we can’t stare blankly back and say, “What
the heck is this?”
—Larry O’Keefe, Halifax
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2009.