 Wind plants in Ontario as of Dec. 31, 2008 |
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Number of Turbines = 429
Max. Capacity : 703 MW per hour
Actual Production = approx. 30% or 211 MW per hour
Approx 30,000 hectares of lands were optioned for wind power development in Ontario to accomodate the above turbines, much of it was useable farmland.
Carbon dioxide emissions calculated to have been displaced (if claims are accurate): 430grams x 211MW per hr. = approx. 91,000 grams per hour.
. ...more
While not advocating for nuclear power over wind power, it is noteworthy that Ontario would need more than 1200 wind turbines and almost 100,000 hectares in order to be able to shut down ONE nuclear station equivalent to Bruce A G3. You do the math - there are 14 nuclear plants in Ontario today.
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| John Laforet hits the mark with every entry. |
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SavetheBluffs.ca
Letter Writing Campaign - Sample 3 |
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Letter Writing Campaign
Here are a few sample letters that can be used as is or edited and mailed or emailed to your MP and MPPS or any one else you can think of who might be open-minded enough to be moved to oppose the anemometer and wind farm proposed for Lake Ontario.
I would like to thank the authors of these letters for allowing us to use them. I have purposely withheld the names of the contributors, but if the authors would like due credit, please use the contact form to email me and I will happily add a personal thanks to your letter.
If you have written letters that you feel might be useful to those of us who don't have the time or who might feel unable to capture the issues succinctly, please use the contact form and I will arrange to pick up your sample letter.
View sample letter 1
sample letter 2
sample letter 3
Address List
Sample Letter 3 -
No need for an anemometer, study says it all
Dear Sir/Madam,
It struck me as odd that the offshore wind farm planned for east end Toronto was to be built by Toronto Hydro Energy Services, and not by the Ontario Power Authority.
With Toronto Hydro spearheading the project, the cost of planning, construction and maintenance will fall on the people of Toronto, perhaps through municipal taxes, and not on the province as a whole. Wind power is expensive power, and there is no doubt electric bills rise as the cost is averaged in. It occurred to me that there may be a power struggle between the Toronto and Ontario power authorities, fought on the backs Torontonians.
The "Analysis of Future Offshore Wind Farm Development in Ontario" by Helimax Energy was prepared for the Ontario Power Authority. It runs almost 40 pages, with maps, pictures, tables and a very readable text. It was only on my second time through that things fell into place.
Helimax identified 64 locations best suited for offshore wind farm projects. The selection criteria were an average wind speed no less than 8.0 metres per second, water depth between 5 and 30 metres, and not close to social or environmental areas of concern. The 64 sites selected appear on two maps, one of the Great Lakes as a whole, the other on a map indicating wind speeds by colour scale: dark green for 5.5 metres per second or less, lighter green 5.5 to 6.0 mps. so on. Wind speed data is from the Ontario Wind Resource Atlas.
Helimax did not recommend a site along the shores of Lake Ontario between the Niagara River and Prince Edward County.
The average wind speed at the bluffs has been identified, based on computer modeling, to be about 5.5 to 6.0 mps. The wind farm might run from the mouth of the Don River to Ajax, virtually all urbanized, and a bird staging area as well. Except perhaps for water depth, the site fails the Helimax criteria on all counts.
The turbines turn to face the wind as the wind shifts, but it takes a speed of about 3 mps to get the vanes revolving. A wind speed of 5.5 mps has a usable power of only 2.5 mps, while a level of 8 mps produces usable power of 5 mps. Other things being equal, power from the proposed east end site will be twice as expensive as a site built to Helimax criteria.
So, why are we here? I can only guess that Ontario Power Authority refused to proceed with the data at hand, and Toronto Hydro Energy Services decided to step in. Toronto may get bragging rights, but at a very high cost. Ontario has yet to build a wind farm in any of its lakes and the first to be built will have an expensive learning curve. Why install an anemometer? Wind speeds are known.
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