NB’s Naveco Power Unveils New Wind Turbine
FREDERICTON – Naveco Power, a new renewable energy company based in New Brunswick, unveiled a Kohilo Quantum3 6kw vertical axis wind turbine at The Ville Cooperative in Fredericton today.
This advanced source of renewable energy is the first of its kind in Canada. It was brought to Fredericton as a result of a partnership between Naveco Power, Falls Brook Centre, a sustainable community demonstration and training centre, and The Ville Cooperative, a facility which promotes education, sustainability, food security, and green technology.
Jeff MacFarlane, executive director of The Ville Cooperative, explained that the goals of Naveco Power are closely aligned with those of The Ville to create sustainable communities.
“We would like to have the first sustainable EMO (emergency measures organization) centre so when we do lose power, we have a safe place in the community for people to come and these applications will be one of the first things to help make that goal,” MacFarlane said.
MacFarlane explained that The Ville will be used as a learning centre for renewables where groups and companies can come to learn about these technologies.
Motivated by the New Brunswick government program, Locally-owned Renewable Energy Projects that are Small Scale (LORESS), Naveco Power was established to help develop local renewable energy projects and aid the province in reaching its target of generating 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Amit Virmani, CEO of Naveco Power, explained that exploring the prospects of advanced renewable energy in New Brunswick just made sense.
“The LORESS program is offering a very low power purchase agreement rate versus a number of the other provinces in the country so I felt it was best to do something that’s good for the community and it makes economic sense,” Virmani said.
Virmani and Naveco Power explored a number of possible innovative technologies that allowed for the power purchase agreement before settling on this particular wind turbine. Their goal was to create renewable energy without requiring large amounts of subsidies and to demonstrate to the public the power of community cooperation.
“We’re looking to create awareness of us, Naveco Power, as a community economic development corporation and our intent to go ahead and be able to offer shares to community members so they too can invest in renewable energy,” Virmani said.
Virmani explained that Naveco Power is working toward uniting the community to raise funds and develop renewable energy sources on a large scale. They hope to bring down the cost of power by increasing the economies of scale through the cooperation of community members and small businesses who are interested in reducing consumption of fossil fuels.