AMHERST - The winds over Canaan Mountain could be producing power for the province, if private wind developer Shear Wind is successful with its proposed project.
Company president Mike Magnus confirmed in an interview Tuesday that 6-8,000 acres of land has been secured for the site in the area between Lakelands and New Canaan, and a best case scenario could see construction work begin late next year if approval is granted from the province.
The company is proceeding with installing some meteorological towers in the area to collect wind data and determine whether or not the site is worth moving ahead with. The necessary land and transmission infrastructure is already adequate, according to Magnus.
"Hopefully the wind regime is significant enough that it will deem going forward with the reaming components of preparation before bidding the project into the RFP (request for proposals)," said Magnus. "There is an anticipation in Nova Scotia that an RFP will be announced this year, so we want to be ready with this site to participate in the RFP. All this prelim work needs to be done quickly, thats why we decided to spend the $150,000 and start studying wind."
If completed, he said the project would be very similar in scope to Shear Wind's existing Glen Dhu North project in Pictou County, which employed as many as 120 people during the construction process and contributed $40 million to the provincial economy.
(For the full story, see the June 2 issue of The Citizen-Record)
