Clean energy project opposition from the Bay of Fundy to Powell River, B.C.
OTTAWA — It’s not just fossil fuel energy infrastructure that attracts public protests. Clean energy projects also regularly face local opposition. Here are six non-emitting electricity projects that are getting a rough ride:
Scot’s Bay tidal project (Nova Scotia): A $3.2-billion proposal by Halcyon Tidal Power to build a 10-kilometre-long tidal dam across Scot’s Bay in the Bay of Fundy was put on hold this spring by the company in the face of stiff opposition. The project to harness the 10-metre high tides would have generated up to 1,200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 25 per cent of the province’s needs or export significant power to New England. Local fishermen continue to raise concerns about other tidal power pilot projects that have been approved by the province.
Bala Falls hydroelectric (Ontario): Swift River Energy Ltd. has been working for more than six years on a plan to build a 4.5-megawatt run-of-the-river waterpower facility in the existing dam on the north Bala Falls in the Muskoka district. The project was first approved in principle in 2008. Hydro power previously was generated at the site until 1978. Local opposition has been fierce and has spread through the district’s wealthy cottage community. An editorial in the Huffington Post by a Toronto filmmaker that denounces the project as a “moral injustice” has been shared on Facebook some 3,400 times.
Saint-Valentin wind farm project (Quebec): Calgary-based TransAlta was denied approval in June 2011 for 25 wind turbines in southern Quebec that would have generated up to 50 megawatts of electricity. Other municipalities in the same area continue to study wind farm possibilities today but Saint-Valentin was ruled out following stiff local opposition. “While wind energy represents a tremendous wealth-creation opportunity for regions, this development isn’t possible without support from the area,” the responsible Quebec minister said at the time.