Thunder Bay - April 20, 2008 - It may not be long before Coldwell Power becomes a 
household name in the Marathon area. Brooks Renewable Energy is proposing to build a wind farm by that name at a site just north and west of Marathon. HATCH Energy, specialist in environmental assessments for energy projects, has been contracted to do the environmental impact study.
The project calls for 66, 1.5 megawatt WPG’s (that’s for wind powered generators) Large energy projects require a lot of planning. The Environmental assessment is targeted for completion this year. Once the plan is approved in principle, then the detailed engineering of the site can begin in 2009. It will take until 2010 before the first turbines are installed. Start up and commissioning of the turbines will commence during the summer of 2010, and commercial operation of the site will begin by the fall of that year.
I was impressed with the detail and quality of the environmental Assessment report. I never realized how extensive the work was. They even did a study on Golden Eagles and the effects that the turbines could have on them. Also a complete photographical study of the entire area was completed to record the quality of the site before commissioning the wind farm. This is important because after the expected 25 year lifespan of the project, if the wind-farm is no longer viable they will have to decommission the site and prepare for remediation.
Completion of the project will help meet the need for clean renewable energy for the province’s consumers. It will help diversify the province’s energy portfolio, and lastly it will provide an economic benefit for the local Pic River First Nation, and the town of Marathon, as well as the developer.
Will this project change things for the people in the area. Not really, there will only be one point where the turbines will be visible from the highway. There site area is used mostly for recreational hunting and recreational activities, and much of this happens along the sites lakes and rivers, not along the high rocky ridges where the turbines will mounted. The site itself is located some 20K west of the town of Marathon, so noise will not be a factor for them.
This photo to the left shows the sparse thinly treed areas where some of the turbines will be located. The day-to-day operations will be handled by a remote control station, which will control several sites. The local maintenance will require people to service the turbines and electrical equipment. Access roads will need to be maintained and ploughed in winter.
One thing is certain. We will need more energy in the future, not less. If we are to live with less petroleum power for both economic and environmental reasons, the chances are much of the power that replaces it will be electrical. Given a choice it would be nice to see as much clean energy as possible.
This report can be viewed on line at http://coldwellwind.org
Bert Rowson
For
LakeSuperiorNews.com