Renewable Energy in New Brunswick: Who’s Who
It might seem like there isn’t a whole lot going on in New Brunswick when it comes to renewable energy projects. But as demand grows and public opinion shifts in favour of green and non-emitting energy sources, wind, solar, hydro and biomass projects continue to pop up.
With three wind farms in the province, there are 294 megawatts of wind energy on the NB Power grid. Lamèque Wind Power Project (Lamèque Island), Kent Hills Wind Farm (Elgin) and Caribou Mountain Wind Park (Bathurst) make up the 113 wind turbines putting power onto the grid.
Solar power in New Brunswick is largely generated by individuals looking to power their own homes. Homes are outfitted with solar generation equipment (solar panels) by a number of New Brunswick companies like Clean Power Solutions and Fundy Solar.
Of NB Power’s 13 generating stations across the province, 7 of these are powered by hydroelectricity and include stations in Mactaquac, Grand Falls, Sisson, Tobique, Beechwood, Milltown and Nepisiguit.
Biomass energy is generated when organic materials are burned and their stored energy is released as heat. Biomass energy can be generated either in plants exclusively for the burning of wood waste and other biomass materials or facilities that serve industrial needs and produce electricity from biomass as a secondary function. Some of these facilities in New Brunswick include the Atholville Mill, Irving Pulp Mill, Nackawic Mill and Twin Rivers Paper Company.
Naveco COO Peter Corbyn explains that much of the large-scale renewable energy development will likely take the form of major wind turbine projects. He says that NB Power’s request for expression of interest from private proponents to provide up to 80 megawatts of renewable energy to feed the grid will likely result in wind power.
“Relative to the expression of interest that NB Power has put out, that 80 megawatts represents approximately between 200 to 250 million dollars worth of projects over the next four years. A big chunk of that is wind turbines that are sourced likely from Germany. So the economic benefit to local developers is in the construction and erection and the electrical work.”
Corbyn also expects that solar power will start to get more interest from municipalities that are better equipped than individuals to invest the time and money it takes for solar power to be worth the investment.
“You’ll probably find that some municipalities are interested in solar. Any municipalities can stomach a fairly long payback [more] than say citizens or homeowners or businesses that are in a competitive market.”
“By the end of 2019, I wouldn’t mind betting there would be at least half a dozen municipalities in the province who have got some solar panels somewhere in their municipality.”