Kingston was approved for Ontario’s first offshore wind power project last week, yet no regulations exist governing where turbines can be installed or how far they must be from shorelines.

“The government is now working on establishing those standards. It’s a very new field,” said Ben Chin of the Ontario Power Authority, which granted the 300-megawatt project to Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc. last week.

The 60-to 150-turbine offshore project will be built in a 19,200- hectare section of Lake Ontario bordered by Kingston, Amherst Island, Prince Edward County, the international water boundary with the U.S. and Wolfe Island.

Offshore turbine guidelines, Chin said, are still being considered. “The provincial government is now working to establish those standards.”

Chin said approvals for renewable energy projects under the Feed-In Tariff program are granted to companies that can supply power fastest to the provincial electricity grid.

Last week’s announcement of the Kingston shoals wind farm took the environmental watchdog organization Lake Ontario Waterkeeper by surprise.

The group’s president, Mark Mattson, isn’t surprised by the fast-track approval process. “(Ministries are) not seen as regulators any more. They’re seen as facilitators. They’re not doing any of the science any more,” Mattson said.

The Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc. wind farm was one of 184 renewable energy projects approved under the Feed-In Tariff program.

Windstream has the distinction of being the first offshore project approved in Ontario and one of a handful in various stages of planning and development around North America.

The company is owned by Ian Baines, an engineer who spearheaded the 86-turbine project on Wolfe Island before selling it to an Alberta company.

Baines told QMI Agency that he envisioned 60, five-megawatt turbines for the shoals project, but the final number will depend on the size of the machines chosen. They range from two to five megawatts each.

Mattson said Waterkeeper will be watching a number of issues, including navigation and safety for recreational boaters, proximity to commercial shipping lanes, the effects on bird habitat and the cumulative effect of wind turbines on the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands region. Thousands of wind turbines are expected to be built in eastern Ontario and northern New York state over the next decade. According to an environment ministry official, Windstream must still obtain:

* Site lease approval for Crown land rights to the 19,200 hectares beneath Lake Ontario from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

* An environmental assessment and approval from the federal government.

* Renewable energy approval from the Ministry of the Environment.

An ministry official confirmed that Baines has not been cleared to develop the site. Chin said that Baines will have to schedule his project so he knows exactly what the setback regulations from shore are before the turbines go into the water — and still meet the four-year deadline.

Mattson said his organization will try to make details about the shoal wind project known to the public.