The decision by the Ontario government to stall proposed offshore wind projects — including a multi million project off Wolfe and Amherst islands in Kingston — is “troubling,” says the CAO of the Kingston Economic Development Commission.

“The winds have stopped blowing for now,” says Jeff Garrah, who says the stop-order means the loss of 1,900 jobs over five years, including 170 permanent jobs in Kingston.

Plus, he adds, it sends a strong message to foreign investment.

And not a particularly good one.

The provincial government announced late last week that it is not proceeding with proposed offshore wind projects while further scientific research is conducted. No Renewable Energy Approvals for offshore have been issued and no offshore projects will proceed at this time.

That includes the Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc. project that would have seen between 60 to 150 turbines installed in Lake Ontario off Kingston — the first of its kind in the province.

“I knew there were some issues regarding the minimum distance between land the first tower,” says Garrah, “but I thought it had been decided it would be 5 km.”

Other issues, such as fish habitat, ice flows and the red lights “are not new issues that have just cropped up.”

Garrah sees the suspension of offshore projects as a political decision, noting that the ministers of environment and energy have been under “a fair bit of pressure” from the anti-wind group.

“It was our hope they would make the Windstream venture a pilot project and take the best practices from that.”

Locally, the decision to drop the offshore project will have repercussions for a large employment opportunity, says the dean of a college program that trains wind turbine technicians.

“When this decision is viewed in the larger scale, it is not really significant as there was only one single project approved in the province and all the land based wind turbine projects will proceed,” says Don Young, the dean of the Faculty of Applied Science at St. Lawrence College.

The government contents that offshore wind in freshwater lakes is in early development and there are no projects operating in North America. A recently installed Lake Vanern pilot project in Sweden is one of the only operational freshwater offshore projects in the world and a pilot project has been proposed in Ohio.

The province has said it will work with the United States on research to ensure any future proposed projects protect the environment on both sides of the Great Lakes.

“We will be working with our U.S. neighbours to ensure that any offshore wind projects are protective of the environment,” said John Wilkinson, Minister of the Environment. “Offshore wind on freshwater lakes is a recent concept that requires a cautious approach until the science of environmental impact is clear. In contrast, the science concerning land based wind is extensive.”

Currently, there are over 700 onshore wind turbines online in Ontario.

Both Garrah and the college dean are optimistic wind power will once again blow this way.

“It’s a political decision, so it can be reversed,” says Garrah.

“It is going to reduce a few potential jobs locally for our graduates, but they are the best trained wind turbine technicians in Canada and they have a very bright future in the wind industry. We remain optimistic that off-shore wind will become a reality in Ontario, once all the concerns have been addressed.”

In many ways, offshore wind power makes more sense than on-shore wind power because it is not in anyone’s backyard, does not need to interfere with wildlife and the wind potential is greater in off-shore locations, Young notes.

“The footprint and impact on the lake bed is very similar to installing pylons for bridges, which we have been doing in our lakes and rivers for a hundred years and we know the impact of those installations. In many instances, the offshore wind projects can be placed far enough from shore to have little to no visual impact.”

via Province puts offshore wind project on ice – Kingston This Week – Ontario, CA.