By Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette
February 20, 2024
A forecasted increase in energy demand in Ontario has an area windmill company looking at revisiting a site near Innerkip for a wind farm, and they have a proposal for a second site near Cassel.
Helmut Schneider, vice president of renewable energy development at Prowind Renewables, an international company with an office in Woodstock, said they are looking to help the province meet its power demands in the not-to-distant future.
“Our vision is to build another community wind project in Oxford Center with two clusters of wind turbines in the Innerkip and Cassel areas. The reason for exploring the possibilities now is a recent announcement by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) that Ontario needs an additional 5,000 MW of capacity over the next 10 years and is planning the next procurement of 2,000 MW capacity in the next two years.”
The original site is located between the ‘Field of Dreams’ and Braemar Sideroad on both sides of the 16th Line while the new proposed location is amongst the 14th and 17th Lines in the Cassel and Maplewood Sideroads area. Prowind brought the current Gunn’s Hill wind farm online in 2016, a development located in Oxford Centre south of Woodstock.
Prowind is working with a co-operative, Oxford Community Energy, to get the project going. Schneider said he is involved with both organizations.
“I am an employee at Prowind but also the president of the co-op. It was formed in 2015 when the approval was given for the Gunn’s Hill project. The co-op owns 49 per cent of that wind farm meaning that members of the community own it and benefit from the electricity that has been produced.”
He added the people who invested in the project receive a solid financial benefit from it. The same type of model is planned for the two projects in EZT, which would also see a landowner receive a lease agreement calculated at three percent of the gross revenue with a minimum guarantee of $ 25,000 per year for about half an acre of land.
“We see our landowners as partners and treat them with fairness,” said Schneider.
The idea of a wind farm in EZT was first introduced by the same company about eight years ago.
“We did talk to some landowners in the Innerkip area and after the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program was closed down, we had to move away from that, but now that the Independent Electricity System Operator is inquiring about our piece for the next six to eight years, we wanted to go back to the same landowners to give them the opportunity first.”
The highly controversial FIT was introduced in 2009 by the then-provincial Liberal government to encourage residents and business owners to install clean renewable energy projects.
Schneider explained planning is in its very early stages and the required procurement from the IESO means they don’t know who they would be selling the power to yet.
“We anticipate that to come in early 2025 and we wouldn’t know until mid-year if a project is approved for development. In order to get that approval, we of course want to first see if there are landowners interested in working with us. We want to see if the municipal councils are interested in supporting a project.”
Should the project proceed as Prowind plans, the final decision would fall on the lap of East Zorra-Tavistock council. Mayor Phil Schaefer said the township has not been approached with any proposal for wind farms in the township at this point.
“It is important to note that the process also includes the requirement that the applicant must submit to the IESO a resolution from the local municipal council that supports the application. The applicant will need to seek such a resolution from township council and it will be council’s decision whether to provide one.”
Schaefer said he has heard little from residents on this topic, most likely because it has just surfaced.
“I do expect more discussion with residents as the process unfolds.”
At least one area politician is intrigued about the possibility of a pair of wind farms in EZT. Oxford County Warden Marcus Ryan said the project fits into the recently approved strategic plan and a pledge of 100 per cent renewable energy.
“There is a commitment to advancing environmental sustainability, specifically climate-change mitigation and adaptation. If Oxford County was asked, I suspect it would be pretty easy to give support in principle,” he added.
Much of the controversy when it comes to wind farms involves what critics say are the health risks to those living nearby. Ryan hopes people will follow the science which he said suggests the opposite.
“There is always some amount of resistance to change in our society. With respect to windmills, I would differentiate between evidence-based and justifiable concerns which are legitimate. If you have a windmill close to your property, it will be a visual change and that’s relatively minor, I think.”
He added concerns people have about health risks due to vibration and noise are largely unfounded.
“There are very large wind farms in very high-residential density areas around the world. We also know this because there is a Gunn’s Hill wind farm that’s been there for a number of years with little to no complaints once it was up and running.”
Not everyone agrees with Ryan’s thinking, including a farming couple located in one of the proposed wind farm areas. They reached out to the Gazette asking that they not be named, at least for now. The couple was invited to an information dinner last week hosted by Prowind where area residents asked questions. She said despite that, there are many unanswered questions.
“They never talk about animal health or any effects on crops or the roads they plan to put in from one to the next turbine. If you sign the agreement (to have a windmill on your property) you give up the right to dictate how far it will be from your home.”
The couple said they are not interested at all in participating but are worried a neighbour may think differently.
“I don’t wish these things on any of them, whether they want them or not. I’m more concerned about the neighbours who don’t want them.”
According to the couple, some people have already signed up to be a part of the wind farm project.
“We live in a gem of a county. We fought against the high-speed rail through here and now they want that land for wind turbines. We just want to farm. We want to see our horizons.”
Another person also contacted the Gazette and said they are organizing a group of residents opposed to the development.
“What we do know is that there are a growing number of landowners and homesteads that do not support wind turbines in our community. The concerns are the use of good productive agricultural land, as well as safety and health concerns for resident families and livestock,” he explained.
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The Gazette will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.