Speak Out for Wind Power in Toronto on Monday

October 24th, 2008 | posted by helen

This Monday, there will be an open public meeting to discuss possible new wind power in Toronto. This is a great opportunity to come out and voice support for renewable energy in Ontario.

This meeting is a first step in generating clean sustainable power in Toronto from the winds off Lake Ontario. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss setting up an "anemometer" to measure the wind speed on the Lake. If the winds are strong enough to generate sufficient power, then a wind farm "several km off the shore" of the lake might be built. This first step is part of a "two year exploration phase" to see if a wind farm may be a good course of action.

The anemometer is a "miniature weather station" that will be only 4m higher than the water level, and will be placed around 1.75 km from the shore. It wil have two small wind generators and a solar panel to power the instruments.

If the anemometer shows that a wind farm is a good option, then an offshore wind farm in the location could potentially generate around 100-200MW of clean energy for us.

Toronto Hydro has applied for a Land Use Permit for the right to use the lands shown in the map below to explore the potential for wind energy.

The meeting will take place:

Monday Oct 27th (this Monday coming)
6:30pm to 9:00pm

Christ Church – Scarborough Village
155 Markham Road
Scarborough, ON

The following map shows the location of the meeting, the approximate location of the anemometer, and the approximate location of the Proposed boundary of Land Use Permit application.

View Larger Map

Facts About Wind Power

According to Toronto Hydro Energy Services, Ontario has the potential to generate between 3,000 and 7,000 megawatts of energy from the wind.

Currently, the one single turbine at the Ex can Generate 1,400 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per year. According to the Toronto Hydro website:

In each year of operation, a 750kW wind turbine similar to the one installed at Exhibition Place in Toronto will displace up to 494 tonnes of carbon dioxide, 8,300 kilograms of sulfur dioxide and 2,460 kilograms of nitrous oxide - the three main ingredients in acid rain, smog, greenhouse gas and ground-level ozone

Toronto hydro also notes that Wind power is "now cost competitive with conventional energy sources such as coal, hydroelectric and nuclear". According to the David Suzuki Foundation, this is because of economies-of-scale, larger turbines and experience on how to build, install and operate wind turbines more effectively.