Offshore wind turbines should not be closer than 5 kilometres from the shoreline, Ontario’s environment ministry has proposed.

If approved, the guideline would appear to pose problems for Toronto Hydro’s proposed wind development off the Scarborough Bluffs.

Toronto Hydro wants to erect up to 60 turbines in Lake Ontario on a reef that runs two to four kilometers offshore, from the east end of Toronto to Ajax.

Earlier this month, the company installed a device to measure wind speeds in the area.

Toronto Hydro has said it chose the site because of the shallow water on the reef. Farther offshore, the water is much deeper and the turbines would cost much more to install.

Tanya Bruckmueller of Toronto Hydro said the company needs time to study the ministry proposal, and plans to participate in the consultation process.

The ministry will hold public consultation sessions in the fall on the proposed guidelines, and a 60-day comment period has opened on the Ontario environmental registry. (Registry number 011-0089.)

In addition to the 5-kilometre exclusion zone, the environment ministry is proposing that off-shore wind proposals would have to go through a “stringent and comprehensive application process.”

Energy Minister Brad Duguid said the proposed guideline provides clarity to proponents of wind power projects and to people who may be affected by them.

“I think it sets to rest the concerns of some moderate people who were concerned that if they go to the beach, they could be looking up at a huge wind turbine,” he said in an interview.

The 5 kilometre zone is in the mid-range of zones proposed by several U.S. states, he said, and will affect different wind project differently.

“Some will be able to adjust, others will certainly be impacted,” he said

John Laforet, president of Wind Concerns Ontario and a vocal opponent of Toronto Hydro’s proposal, said the 5 kilometre guideline is “totally inadequate.”

“They’re hoping community opposition will die down because they’ve thrown us a very small bone,” he said, adding he will continue to lead opposition to wind projects.

Ontario is pushing for more electricity from renewable sources, as it shuts down coal-fired generating stations. It will pay 19 cents a kilowatt hour to offshore wind generators; the average market price paid to generators for June has been just over 4 cents.

via Ontario proposes pushing wind turbines 5 km from shore – thestar.com.