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Wind, wave energy options abandoned Three years, C$1.29 million later, B.C. Hydro elects not to go forward with alternative energy projects Don Whiteley Petroleum News Contributing Writer-Vancouver
For B.C. Hydro, the answer wasn't blowin' in the wind, nor was it coming on the next tide.
After spending nearly three years and C$1.29 million collecting data on wind and wave energy throughout the province, the power utility has decided to abandon any attempt to build its own projects and instead donate it to the private sector.
“It just wasn't part of our mandate any more,” said Hydro spokesman Stephen Bruyneel. “We felt that with the government's new energy policy the private sector was better suited to try developing commercial projects.”
The data collected through its province-wide wind energy monitoring program will be made available to all interested parties. B.C. Hydro will also be releasing ocean wave energy data it has collected off Ucluelet, on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
“B.C. Hydro has accumulated valuable data at a number of locations in B.C. that we are eager to share with interested parties,” said B.C. Hydro's senior vice-president, distribution, Bev Van Ruyven. “This will further enable private sector wind and wave energy development in B.C. and help these projects compete in our future commercial calls for new electricity supply.” Testing began in 2000 B.C. Hydro began testing the winds in March 2000. Wind mapping and modeling tools predicted likely spots and led to a network of 20 monitoring installations, including sites on Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia.
Wave monitoring started at Ucluelet in February 2002 after preliminary research confirmed a large wave energy potential in that location. The raw wind and wave data can be ordered through B.C. Hydro's web site — http://www.bchydro.com.
Hydro plans to decommission many of the remaining wind monitoring equipment installations this year, but it will maintain three locations: Rumble Ridge on Vancouver Island, and Wartenbe and Bear Mountains near Dawson Creek.
Commercial development requires a minimum average of 7.0 mph wind speed, the company said. A number of other factors, including site accessibility and availability; terrain; proximity to the transmission and distribution system; and environmental issues must also be taken into account before a site can be developed.
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