A wind farm project in the coastal community of Anse-Bleue has officially died after several years of back and forth due to the reaction of residents.
The small community of 400 people nearby Caraquet has been fighting the project for more than three years. The project was led by Naveco Power, a Fredericton renewable energy company.
The community has prevailed.
“There’s a lot of relief … now anxiety can be stopped,” said Anse-Bleue resident Martin Dionne.
NB Power has confirmed that the wind farm project will not go ahead.
“NB Power and Chaleur Ventus were unable to reach a mutually agreed solution for the delayed delivery of the Chaleur Ventus wind project,” NB Power spokesman Marc Belliveau said in an email.
Some residents of Anse-Bleue have opposed the project from the beginning. They were concerned that the five wind turbines were too close to the houses and disturbed the tranquility of the community.
Martin Dionne said he moved to Anse-Bleue from Quebec four years ago because he wanted to live in a peaceful community near the water. (RADIO-CANADA / ALIX VILLENEUVE)
More than 85% of residents signed a petition against the wind project in early 2020.
Dionne said he and the rest of the community only found out about the project in 2019, two years after it was proposed.
He said there are many reasons why wind turbines are not wanted, including the risks to the community’s well system and the potential impacts on its diverse wildlife that were found in the process of assessing wind turbines. environmental impact.
Some residents were concerned about the “blinking of the shadows,” an intermittent effect created by the sunlight and shadow of the wind turbines in their homes.
“Everyone has different reasons and most people don’t want it here … it doesn’t mean no,” Dionne said.
Dionne said much of the community is committed to renewable energy, but there were too many risks in the case of this project.
Lawsuit to the City Council
The news that the wind farm project will no longer occur comes just two weeks after Naveco Power filed a lawsuit against Bathurst City Council.
Naveco Power signed an agreement with the city in 2017, giving the city main ownership of the wind farm.
The agreement allowed the project to fall under a provincial law that allows NB Power to buy up to 20 megawatts of energy from small-scale renewable energy projects that are majority-owned by a municipality, a non-profit community group. profit or a First Nations band.
The city had applied for approval of the municipal capital loan to apply for loans of up to $ 20 million to finance the project, but withdrew its application two years after the initial agreement.
Bathurst Mayor Paolo Fongemie said the decision to withdraw from the project was based on “cost-benefit or return-benefit for citizens”.
On June 3, Naveco Power, Windforce Investments and the Chaleur Ventus Association filed a lawsuit against Bathurst City Council.
Filed in New Brunswick’s Queen’s Bench Court, the green energy company accused the municipality of “bad faith” over the project agreement.
The three plaintiffs said they had already invested more than $ 3.5 million and want to recoup those funds.
Naveco Power CEO Amit Virmani declined to comment on the state of the wind farm or the case.
Bathurst City Council did not respond to requests for comment.