In a couple of weeks about 30 wind turbines on Wolfe Island near Kingston will power up. Another 56 turbines, owned by Canadian Hydro Developers will be spinning by the end of June. It will be Canada's second largest wind farm.
This January the Ontario government approved half a dozen wind turbine projects including one in Prince Edward County near Belleville. Skypower will have 43 turbines running by next year. Critics say new legislation for such green technology projects will allow them to roll over any opposition by giving the projects top priority. Current projects have been criticized for not responding fully to resident's concerns over potential health impacts from the noise of wind technology. The medical community says more health studies need to be done.
As for solar power technology the two wind power firms are in on that too.
A solar farm project called "First Light" is in Stone Mills just west of Kingston. It will cover 300 acres and combines Skypower with SunEdison of the US, North America's largest solar power provider. That facility is to come on line this year and power two thousand homes.
Canadian Hydro is proposing a 20 megawatt operation... in the Napanee area. They are just examining its economic feasibility but the Ontario government has already expressed interest in half the project.
Then there is a similar sized project planned near Hawkesbury, east of Ottawa. It would also produce around 20 megawatts and see 125-thousand solar panels set up. Neighbours say the project will use up valuable agricultural land. Solaris Energy Partners of Ottawa is fighting a municipal ruling which blocks the project for one year. A key decision in the dispute may come within a few weeks.
Finally there is a solar technology factory planned for Kingston. Everbrite Solar of Toronto just announced two weeks ago it will spend half a billion dollars to build a solar panel factory that could be operational in a year with 12-hundred jobs created. The company will include a 25 million dollar research facility for Queen's University solar experts.
Web site of the week:
www.meetup.com - A site which helps people with similar interests to find each other.
This Sunday one of the stories on TECH NOW will be a look at using social media to raise money for charitable causes.
