Dan Roscoe is the CEO of Roswall Development, which owns Renewall Energy, the company behind Mersey River Wind. (Renewall Energy)

Work may start soon on the Mersey River Wind project in Milton.

Dan Roscoe is the CEO of Roswall Development, the company that plans to build a 33-wind turbine farm on 80 hectares of Crown land west of the Mersey River, under its Renewall Energy subsidiary.

He told QCCR this week that the company is still on track to erect its first batch of windmills by late 2026.

“We still hope to start in the next few months and take advantage of the summer season,” Roscoe said in an interview.

“Turbines are still scheduled to arrive likely next June, but generally the middle of next year. It’s still our plan to do 20 turbines in ’26 and 13 turbines in ‘27.”

Roscoe said most of the site-clearing work has been done. And he expects crews to begin working on the roads this spring and summer.

“We would’ve all loved to have a shovel in the ground by now, but we’re still on schedule for ’26.”

There’s a lot of excitement locally about the project, which promises to sell electricity directly to consumers, bypassing Nova Scotia Power. And Renewall says their rates will be lower and more stable than the privately owned utility.

When about 24 windmill blades showed up in Port Mersey Commercial Park in Brooklyn recently, people thought they were for the Mersey River project.

Roscoe says that equipment doesn’t belong to them. Those are for a wind farm in Benjamins Mill near Falmouth.

“Those are going to a project in Hants County. But that is the same route that we’re planning to use for all of our components, not just the blades.”

Roswall has about 30 commercial, industrial and institutional customers signed up for Mersey River Wind so far, including the Region of Queens and other municipal governments in Halifax, Shelburne and Bridgewater.

And he said hundreds of individuals have added their names to a list of early residential customers. Those who live near the wind farm, essentially anybody in Queens County, will get priority access.

“With many of our customers, there’s this push for stability, especially in the public sector where you’re trying to operate under a fixed budget. If your electricity cost goes up, your cost of water treatment goes up, but if you can stabilize your cost of energy well that major input into your water treatment cost is now is now stabilized and predictable. I suggest that climate and so forth, bring us together, but it’s really the commercial terms that they could save money and have predictability going forward which really is what gets people the most excited.”

Roscoe says the company’s community liaison committee will keep people updated as construction begins.

Residents can also subscribe to the company’s newsletter on the Mersey River Wind website and sign up to be a customer on the Renewall Energy website.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The Region of Queens has reached a deal with Renewall Energy to supply electricity from the Mersey River Wind farm. (Renewall Energy Inc.)

The Region of Queens will be using wind energy produced in their own backyard to keep the lights on in municipal properties.

The municipality will be one of the first customers of the Mersey River Wind Project, set to begin operating in 2026.

Halifax-based Roswall Development Inc. are the owners of Mersey River Wind. It plans to build 33 wind turbines on about 80 hectares of Crown land west of the Mersey River in Milton.

Roswall will sell power directly to customers, bypassing Nova Scotia Power, under the name Renewall Energy. Roswall is the first in the province to be awarded a licence to sell power directly to consumers under the Renewable to Retail program introduced in 2015.

It will deliver electricity using Nova Scotia Power’s grid, but customers will be billed directly by Renewall. They want to sign up commercial users first and then open it up to residential customers.

Region of Queens councillors voted last March to allow the project to go ahead.

Sometime after that, the region signed a deal with the company to get its electricity from the wind farm. It will be among 30 government, commercial and industrial customers who have signed up so far.

It appears councillors approved the deal in a closed-door session at some point before the end of 2024, under the old municipal council. The agreement was never discussed in an open council meeting. 

And even the region’s recently elected Mayor Scott Christian couldn’t give QCCR the details.

But he said he’s happy about the agreement with Roswall.

“I know that it was council directed the municipality to enter an agreement with Roswall with respect to being a customer,” Christian said Thursday in an interview, “but I don’t know the number of megawatts or the duration of the deal or when that actually would have been advanced by the administration. I don’t know those details right now.

“I think we should be proud and I don’t see any reason why any of that can’t come to light.”

Queens isn’t the only municipality to sign up. The Halifax region, the Town of Bridgewater and the Municipality of Shelburne have also signed deals with Renewall.

According to a staff report last October for the Municipality of Shelburne, the deal with Renewall could see that municipality saving up to $500,000 over 20 years in electricity costs.

Renewall’s presentation to Shelburne’s municipal council said they offer rates two to five per cent lower than Nova Scotia Power’s rates in the first year of an agreement, with a fixed increase of one per cent each year over a 20-year contract.

Roswall CEO Dan Roscoe told QCCR that the wind farm could be supplying electricity to customers by the end of 2026. The company is scheduled to begin construction of the basic infrastructure this spring, with turbines set to arrive in the spring of 2026.

“The key feature of our rates is that they’re fixed over time,” Roscoe said. “The energy portion would be essentially predictable over the term of the contract, so that creates a certainty from a power price perspective that isn’t available with the public utility.”

Roscoe said that in addition to the municipalities signed up so far, they’ve also signed up some private-sector customers too, some of which are on the South Shore.

He said that many of their early customers want a greener option, either because their customers or governments are demanding it. Another reason is purely practical.

“Large energy users, and I think this applies to the public sector entities as well, that have perhaps fixed budgets, having predictability is actually very valuable, especially if electricity is a big percentage of your expenses.

“So the larger energy users, if they can get a hedge on their power price, that’s very advantageous for them.”

An added bonus for the Region of Queens is the expected annual tax revenue boost of up to $800,000 from the wind farm. Christian said switching to renewable energy is a no-brainer.

“In terms of realizing savings for the ratepayer, savings for the municipality as it relates to our energy consumption, we’re big energy consumers, we spend a lot of money on electricity, and so where we can realize savings while also achieving meaningful progress toward greening our facilities and reducing carbon emissions associated with energy for our facilities, it feels win-win-win to me.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Jason Parise, development director with SWEB Development, speaks to Scott Joudrey at a community engagement session at the Greenfield Fire Hall last week about SWEB’s proposal for a 10-turbine wind farm in the area. (Rick Conrad)

Property owners in north Queens got an early look last week at a company’s plans to build a potential wind farm in the area.

The Apitamkiejit Wind Energy Project, named after the Mi’kmaq term for tamarack, is being proposed by SWEB Development, an Austrian company with offices in Halifax.

It wants to erect 10 turbines on private property between Little Wentworth Lake and Wentworth Lake. The project could provide renewable energy for thousands of homes in the area.

The company is bidding through Nova Scotia’s Green Choice Program, which is a collaboration between the province, Nova Scotia Power and private companies to reach Nova Scotia’s goal of 80 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

SWEB held a community engagement session at the Greenfield Fire Hall late last week.

Jason Parise, a development director with SWEB, says the project has been in the works since 2021.

“We’ll continue to work on the project, engage stakeholders, engage First Nations communities,” he said. “This project would be at mid-stage development, so we have a lot of things that have been ongoing for a couple of years. Our wind resource assessment has been ongoing, we have a meteorological tower on site. A lot of our field work for the envrionmental assessment component is well underway. We expect to be filing an environmental assessment for this project at the end of 2024.”

The company should know if its application was successful by the end of the year.

Sarah Rosenblat is the senior development director for SWEB. She said community engagement sessions are important in shaping the Apitamkiejit project. This most recent session is on top of the online engagement they held two years ago. 

“The feedback that we’re going to hear tonight could even go as far as helping to shape the project in terms of layout. If there’s a sensitive area that we weren’t aware of, maybe a recreational lake that folks use in the summer. … That allows us to work within the community, hear their feedback, make adjustments, and it allows us to bring it into the actual project planning.

“It looked very different a while back. It’s actually already shifted because of public feedback. So, we’ve pushed away from the roads, come in more internally.”

Rosenblat says that if their bid is successful, the goal would be to have the project up and running by the beginning of 2028.

Scott Joudrey lives in Bridgewater but owns property in the area SWEB wants to develop.

“It’s a great idea,” he said. “It’s part of the future. Cleaner energy, and more sustainable energy. We gotta do something.

“I think it’s going to be a good idea, especially if they can put enough in the area to power a good percentage of the homes and businesses.”

Monica Fisher lives on Lapland Road, which would be near the proposed farm.  

“This development that is being proposed is very close to us so they would be using our Lapland Road extension as an access point if it gets approved. And that road needs major repair. … So if this gets to go through, they’re going to have to completely upgrade (the road).”

She said she and her neighbours were concerned about the impact the project would have on local wildlife. But the company met with them a couple of weeks ago, she said, and assured them that all wildlife would be protected.

“We’ve got quite a few windmill projects in our province that I was very unaware of until now. I’m learning more about them. … I’m not opposed to it, as long as it’s not affecting my life.”

This isn’t the only significant wind project being proposed for Queens County. Mersey River Wind won approval on March 12 from Region of Queens councillors to build a 33-turbine farm on about 80 hectares of Crown land 4.4 kilometres east of Milton. That project is expected to get underway later this year.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The Region of Queens approved the next step Tuesday for Mersey River Wind farm development in Milton. (Mersey River Wind)

Queens County residents got one step closer on Tuesday to buying their electricity from wind power.

Region of Queens councillors approved a development agreement to allow a large-scale wind farm to go ahead in Milton.

Halifax-based Roswall Development Inc., the owners of Mersey River Wind, plans to build 33 wind turbines on about 80 hectares of Crown land west of the Mersey River.

Roswall promises to sell power from the wind farm directly to consumers, bypassing Nova Scotia Power, under the name Renewall Energy. 

It will offer electricity to large customers on the South Shore first, and then to residential customers. 

RELATED:

• Queens residents to have say on Milton wind project
• Proposed wind farm could offer Queens an alternative to NS Power

The company says its power rates would be lower than Nova Scotia Power’s. The project is expected to employ 100 people temporarily. It says it could employ up to 12 people full time after the farm is up and running.

David Howell is Roswall’s chief financial officer. He was at the council meeting on Tuesday.

“We will be delivering the electricity across Nova Sotia Power’s grid, paying for the use of the grid essentially. And people will have a choice, I hope, by the time we get to the end of 2025, to buy their power either from Nova Scotia Power or directly from our retail company.”

Roswall is the first in the province to be awarded a licence to sell power directly to consumers under the Renewable to Retail program introduced by the provincial government in 2015.

Under the municipality’s land use bylaw, large-scale wind farms are not automatically allowed in the area as it’s currently zoned. So the company had to apply for a separate agreement with the municipality. 

As part of that process, the municipality held a public hearing on Tuesday morning before its regular council meeting. Only one member of the public spoke against the project. A Milton resident was concerned about the proximity of the turbines to houses in the area and an effect known as shadow flicker. That’s essentially the shadow cast by the turbines on properties on a sunny day.

Mitch Underhay, Roswall’s development manager, said after the meeting that all homes are at least two kilometres away from the development. And one woods camp is about a kilometre away, but the company has reached an agreement with that landowner.

“There are limits of how many hours per year and minutes per day the shadow flicker can land on a receptor, which is usually a home. All of the homes around Milton are well outside of that, so they shouldn’t experience any shadow flicker at all.”

Much of the land is on former Bowater Mersey property. Because of much of it is already cleared, Underhay said there should be minimal environmental impact on the site. Staff will be on site to clear any vegetation or trees that might interfere with power lines or turbines, he said. No chemical sprays will be used.

The owners of two concrete companies spoke in favour of the development agreement. Bridgewater Ready Mix and South Shore Ready Mix hope to win some work with the project.

Joel Westin, president and owner of Bridgewater Ready Mix, told councillors there are many advantages to the project – local jobs, greener energy and potentially lower power rates.

“We in the ready mix industry also have a commitment to net zero and to achieve that we need renewable power. And we intend to become customers of the Mersey Wind project once it starts.”

Mayor Darlene Norman said the project could eventually generate up to $800,000 in tax revenue for the municipality.

“It is a good thing for Queens County and it was wonderful to have 100 per cent approval from council on this matter,” she said in an interview.

“It’s a big project for Queens and it is one that should be welcomed by people who understand that green energy is the important energy.”

Securing the development agreement with Queens County was one the last steps before the company can begin construction. Howell said it is in the final stages of working out a lease agreement for the Crown land in Milton. 

The development agreement approval is still subject to an appeal process, until April 4.

Howell said they hope to begin construction by this summer.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

The Apitamkiejit Wind Energy Project proposed for north Queens would include 10 turbines with a capacity of up to 68 megawatts. (SWEB Energy photo)

A company hoping to build a wind farm in north Queens is planning a community engagement session on Thurs., March 21 at the Greenfield Fire Hall from 4:30 to 7:30.

The Apitamkiejit Wind Energy Project would include 10 turbines with a capacity of 68 megawatts.

It would be built on private property near Wentworth Lake in north Queens. SWEB Development, an Austrian company with offices in Halifax, is planning to partner with one or more First Nations communities on the project, according to the company’s website.

The session is open to everybody. You can call 902-830-1347, email api@sweb.energy or check out their website here for more information. 

A public hearing is scheduled for March 12 on a proposed wind farm in Milton. (Mersey River Wind)

A public hearing on a proposed wind farm development in Milton is scheduled for March 12 in council chambers at the Region of Queens offices in Liverpool.

The region plans to sign a development agreement with Roswall Development Inc., the owners of Mersey River Wind. The company would build 33 wind turbines on about 80 hectares of Crown land near the Mersey River.

The Halifax-based company is negotiating with the Nova Scotia government to lease the land. Under the municipality’s land use bylaw, large-scale wind farms are not automatically allowed on the land as it’s currently zoned.

Councillors voted Feb. 13 to move ahead with the agreement. As part of the process, though, a public hearing must be held before it moves further.

The hearing is set for Tues. March 12 at 9 a.m., which will be before council’s regular meeting. The staff report that council relied on at its Feb. 13 meeting is available here. More information about the hearing is available on the region’s website here. 

Roswall promises to sell power from the wind farm directly to consumers, bypassing Nova Scotia Power. It says it will offer it to large customers on the South Shore first, and then to residential customers. The company says its power rates would be lower than Nova Scotia Power’s. The project is expected to employ 100 people temporarily.

Anybody can speak at the hearing. Written submissions must be sent to the region at least two business days before March 12 to mmacleod@regionofqueens.com. 

Copies of the supporting documents are available at the region’s office at 249 White Point Road, Monday to Friday. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Roswall Met tower measuring wind speeds at the proposed wind farm site in Milton. Photo Roswall Development

By Rick Conrad

Queens County residents will get their say on a wind farm project planned for Milton.

The Region of Queens plans to sign a development agreement with Roswall Development Inc., the owners of Mersey River Wind. The company would build 33 wind turbines on about 80 hectares of Crown land near the Mersey River.

The company plans to lease the land from the Nova Scotia government. Under the municipality’s land use bylaw, large-scale wind farms are not automatically allowed on the land as it’s currently zoned.

Councillors voted this week to move ahead with the agreement. As part of the process, though, a public hearing must be held before anything is signed.

That hearing is scheduled for March 12 at 9 a.m. in council chambers at 249 White Point Rd.

Mayor Darlene Norman says that while she hasn’t heard much opposition to the project since 2022, it’s important for the public to have their say on the project and the development agreement.

“It gives the region the ability to do some controls and then a development agreement requires a public hearing, so the public has a right to comment on that agreement.

“Anyone can go and present their opinion.”

If they can’t attend the meeting, they can also send written comments to the region.

The company held two public consultations in Milton in 2022, attended by more than 50 residents. It also met with about 40 members of the local indigenous community in February 2023. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Region of Queens administration building. Photo Ed Halverson

Discussions around changing the sidewalks on the Liverpool Town Bridge and updating the municipal phone answering service were a couple of items on the most recent Region of Queens Council meeting agenda.

The meeting started with a pair of presentations. The first was an update from Roswall, the company behind the Mersey River Wind Farm project.

The company has received several governmental approvals and held community information meetings. They are working towards completing development stage items and signing a lease for the Crown Land.

The second item was a joint presentation from the Queens County ATV Association and the Queens Rails to Trails Association. The two groups are looking for municipal support that would allow ATVs to travel along short sections of municipal roads as permitted by the recently announced Road Trails Act.

Council will discuss the request at a future meeting and will likely be bringing the idea forward to the public for feedback.

In the recommendations section council agreed to waive tipping fees for up to 10 metric tonnes or roughly $700 worth for a family who lost their home in a fire.

Council also agreed to spend $16,850 to install a new telephone answering service for the municipality. The Region has been unable to receive telephone messages for the past several weeks as the old system is no longer supported.

The parameters for a new seven-member police advisory board were also established. Councillors Brown and Hawkes along with Deputy Mayor Fancy will represent council. Community members will include Acadia First Nation Band Council member Andrew Francis and two others chosen from the public. The seventh member will be appointed by the province. Region of Queens is working towards having the new Police Advisory Board in place early in the fall.

Tenders for a new heating and ventilation system for the Liverpool Business Development Centre has come in $130,000 over budget. Council had approved spending $1.9 million in the 2023/24 budget. The only tender received came from Sea Coast HVAC at a total cost of $2.03 million. As it was the only bid, council approved spending the additional money to begin the work.

They also approved $446,200 to buy a new street sweeper from Saunders Equipment Ltd, of Fredericton NB.

A homeowner in Brooklyn requested municipal wastewater systems be extended to their property. Staff informed council it is not feasible at this time because of permitting issues from the province and the large number of projects they are already working on within the municipality.

Council also explored options for improving pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the Liverpool Town bridge. With four options ranging from $325,000 to refresh the existing layout to $4.4 million to move the lanes to the outside of the bridge, council opted to maintain what is in place now and keep an eye out for federal funding options in the future.

Finally, council went in-camera to discuss Nova Scotia Power’s request to install an EV charging station on municipal property in Liverpool, but no site was confirmed.

The next Region of Queens Council meeting will be held August 8 beginning at 9:00am in council chambers.

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Roswal Met tower measuring wind speeds at the proposed wind farm site in Milton. Photo Roswal Development

If all goes to plan, residents of Queens may have a greener alternative to buying electricity.

Roswall Development Inc is proposing to build a wind farm along the Mersey River on former Bowater lands.

Managing Director of Roswall Developments Daniel Roscoe says the fact the 20,000-acre parcel has been commercially harvested over the last 100 years means an easier start up for the company as the land is already mostly cleared and a road network is in place.

“In addition, what also interests us is not only the size and distance from everything, because it is quite far away from houses and so forth, but there is a significant transmission infrastructure from an electrical perspective in Milton,” said Roscoe. “There’s an electrical substation in Milton that used to feed the mill.”

Roscoe says they plan to begin with eight turbines generating 36 megawatts of power and gradually add more until they are producing 150 megawatts from a total of 33 turbines.

Connecting that infrastructure to the Nova Scotia Power electrical grid will be key in getting energy from the wind farm into people’s homes.

Roscoe says the company is unique in Nova Scotia as it is the only wind farm that won’t be selling energy back to Nova Scotia Power.

Roswall is the first in the province to be awarded a license to sell power directly to consumers under the Renewable to Retail program introduced by the provincial government in 2015.

Before working out an arrangement with Nova Scotia Power to connect to their grid the company still needs to pass an environmental assessment, secure a lease from the province to use the crown lands and sign a development agreement with the Region of Queens.

The plan is to have all the permits in place by the end of 2022 so they can begin selling power by the end of 2023.

Roscoe says to meet international obligations, Nova Scotia needs to shut down 1,000 megawatts of coal generated power over the next eight years.

Not only does Nova Scotia need to find a green alternative to replace that power he says, demands on the electrical system are only going to rise as people move to heat and cool their homes with heat pumps and transition to driving electric cars.

“A third thing, which I think could be the most interesting for Queens County and the South Shore is that new businesses need clean energy to be successful in the international market,” said Roscoe. “If you want to make green hydrogen or biofuel or sell anything into Europe, you need a carbon footprint and you need that carbon footprint to be low.”

Roswall held a public information meeting Thursday and Roscoe says they plan to host another later this summer once they have completed their environmental assessment.

More information on the project can be found at the company website merseywind.ca.

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