WIND FARMS IN THE SUBURBS

Developer Makes The Case For Urban Wind Energy Development

Mark Del Franco, 31 January 2013 (North American Windpower)

“Kruger Energy's 100 MW Monteregie wind farm, located 20 km outside of Montreal…[is visible] from the roofs of downtown skyscrapers…Commissioned on Dec. 12, 2012, the wind farm features 44 Enercon E82 wind turbines perched on 98-meter hybrid towers made of steel and concrete. The project is the result of nearly five years of company outreach and continual communication with the local communities…

“From the outset in 2008, Kruger canvassed the surrounding municipalities…to provide project updates and to answer questions from residents…Developing a utility-scale project so close to an urban location is especially significant to the growing issue of social acceptance, which will gain greater attention as wind projects continue to move closer to urban locations...[It] is the No.1 strategic priority of the Canadian Wind Energy Association…”

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“…[T]here is no standard practice for gaining local acceptance…[P]ublic scrutiny requires wind developers to adopt best practices…[Monteregie wind farm] modifications included reducing the number of turbines from 50 to 44 by using a 2.3 MW version of the E82 machine. Additionally… no house is closer than 750 meters - even though some municipalities only require 500-meter setbacks…

“…[Kruger Energy] was awarded a contract for the Monteregie project following Hydro-Quebec's 2005 call for power…[T]he Monteregie project's proximity to load…helped to secure the bid…[A]dding generation closer to load centers minimizes transmission line losses…[because] power losses on the…transmission system are mostly related to the length and the voltage of a line…[and average] 5.4% of the energy transmitted…”

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