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Politics : The Exxon Free Environmental Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (4118)	8/17/2009 9:28:54 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 49001

Haida turn to wind and water for new power First nation wants to buy 30% share in electricity-generating turbines to be built in stormy Hecate Strait By Scott Simpson, Vancouver SunAugust 14, 2009 vancouversun.com NaiKun Wind Energy and the Haida Nation added a new dimension to the proposed $2-billion Hecate Strait wind-power project on Thursday. The Queen Charlottes (Haida Gwaii) first nation has agreed to acquire a 30-per-cent equity share of the project for $240 million. The deal is on top of an agreement struck earlier this year giving the Haida jobs and revenue from the proposed 396-megawatt offshore wind park in their traditional marine territory. NaiKun plans a 110-turbine wind park in Hecate Strait off the east coast of northern Queen Charlotte Island, generating enough power from one of the windiest places on the B.C. coast to light about 130,000 homes. The deal echoes an announcement last May by the Haisla First Nation and about 15 Interior B.C. first nations to take an equity share in a proposed $4.2-billion liquid natural gas plant and pipeline project. As with the natural gas deal, the Haida get an ownership share and substantial long-term revenue -- roughly $20 million to $25 million a year in electricity sales revenue for a minimum two to three decades if the project is successful in winning a power supply contract from BC Hydro. "For them, more than the wind project, this is about creating a revenue stream they can use to invest in developing business the way they want to develop it in Haida Gwaii and the North Coast region," said Paul Taylor, president and CEO of NaiKun. The deal takes the form of a memorandum of understanding between Haida Enterprise Corp. and NaiKun. It suggests that both the Haida and NaiKun are confident that the provincial government will carry through on its promise to support green energy development despite a recent B.C. Utilities Commission ruling making it more difficult for private-sector entrepreneurs to create new electricity sources. "I think what's needed now is clarity from BC Hydro and government on next steps forward. It's our expectation that we will continue to have a robust power call and that Hydro will continue down the road it says it is," Taylor said in an interview. As well, it may be contingent on new federal funding initiative for aboriginal economic development. The deal is subject to approval from both federal and provincial environmental review agencies, as well as a review by the Haida of impacts on marine life in the strait. Haida Enterprise Corp. will have to find buyers for its equity shares. Thomas Olsen, managing director of HaiCo, said the Haida will first seek support through the federal Conservative party's new Framework for Aboriginal Economic Development -- but noted that NaiKun has advised that financiers from as far away as Europe have expressed interest in the project. "Haida put their culture and the environment ahead of anything," Olsen said. "They see wind energy as being a very clean and green business venture. "They don't see it having the impacts a lot of other on-island ventures have had on the environment." A recent consultant's study filed with the utilities commission by BC Hydro indicates offshore wind costs are substantially higher per kilowatt than onshore wind or large-scale hydro, due to the cost of installing seabed transmission lines. Taylor believes the project can succeed, within Hydro's framework for the rates it will pay to buy independent power. "If you look at all the attributes of our project -- on price, on the environmental piece, on the first nations piece, on the availability of transmission, the geographic diversity, and the portfolio diversity -- all of those things speak positively for the project and for the company," Taylor said. ssimpson@vancouversun.com Blog: vancouversun.com/energy