“The collaborative nature of these councils and town staff from these three towns is the foundation of success for AREA, and based on that, the Ellershouse Wind Farm was the first low hanging fruit.” Mayor and one other councillor, and each town has equal voting power, regardless of the alloca- tion of risk and reward. That is extremely unique for a number of reasons – firstly, that any munic - ipal unit enters into a power-sharing structure, recognizing that its share of a larger pie is better for their citizens than control of their own pie. Secondly, for any town having the most to win or lose in such an arrangement, it’s rare for that entity to see the value in shared decision making. But that takes work and constant compromise. The collaborative nature of these councils and town staff from these three towns is the founda- tion of success for AREA, and based on that, the Ellershouse Wind Farm was the first low hanging fruit. Spotlight on Business: The Ellershouse Wind Farm the first Alternative Resource Energy Authority “low hanging fruit” project. Take us through this first project. When did the project start? How long did the project take to complete? Has the project met the original financial assumptions? Has the project enabled the four municipal electric utilities to achieve compliance with the 2020 Nova Scotia Renew- able Energy Standard? Aaron Long: Wind is the lowest cost renewable energy technology and the firm I was with in 2013 was developing a wind project in Ellershouse near its existing 5MW hydro facility. So, it was logical for AREA to pursue a wind project with a local firm with a long-standing and great local reputation. The towns took the risk of funding the development work associated with grid integra-
tion, wind resource and environmental studies, hoping to secure permits. After securing the nec- essary permits and funding, the Ellershouse Wind Farm was built in phases – 4 turbines came online in late 2015, with 3 more turbines in each of 2016 and 2017: now there’s 10 in total. The project has exceeded the original financial assumptions, but we were very conservative given the nature of municipal ownership. The Towns, via AREA, are extremely proud of this accomplishment. To put it in perspective, there’s about 12,000 people maximum in the three owner towns and River- port, collectively sharing the risk and reward of a $51 million wind farm. AREA has accordingly been laser focused on being risk averse and that informs our technology choice and our opera- tions & management strategies.
“The project has exceeded the original financial assumptions, but we were very conservative given the nature of municipal owner- ship.”
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MAY/JUNE 2022 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MAY/JUNE 2022
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