Lighting the Way Knowledge Assessment in Prince Edward Island (1999) / Chapter Skim
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5 Wind Turbine Manufacture on PEI
5 Wind Turbine Manufacture on PEI
Pages 91-101
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From page 91... ...
Participants included representatives of the University of Prince Edward Island, Holland College, the Atlantic Wind Test Site, the Canadian National Research Council, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Maritime Electric Company, the Provincial Government, and the private sector.
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From page 92... ...
Smaller machines, however, would be achievable for Prince Edward Island with a straightforward extension of current capabilities. These turbines are used for village power systems, agribusiness, and water pumping.
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From page 93... ...
The Atlantic Wind Test Site on PEI, a Federal facility, is available to carry out research as well as testing of wind machines. Slemon Park industrial park houses aerospace and electrical component manufacturing companies that could serve as component suppliers, and provides infrastructure for turbine manufacturing.
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From page 94... ...
CASE STUDY In the medium term, the company will move into integrated wind energy systems, combining wind with diesel and perhaps photovoltaic for remote applications, or for net metering applications in urban areas. In the longer term, it would explore the potential for larger wind turbines of several hundred kilowatts that would be used to manufacture hydrogen for on-site sale to the anticipated motor vehicle fuel market.
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From page 95... ...
There are also small foundries and facilities for propeller manufacturing, including sand casting of marine screws and CNC machining. A cluster of aerospace firms is developing rapidly at the former air force base at Slemon Park, Summerside, however, and there are additional centers of expertise in the other Maritime Provinces.
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From page 96... ...
In PEI, the firm would have access to air transport connecting to Halifax's international airport, trucking, with significantly reduced costs since the opening of the Confederation Bridge, and marine shipping from the port of Summerside. The northern winter climate can have some impacts in terms of iced-in winter ports, and closures of airports and the bridge during storms.
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From page 97... ...
. The Island's primary industry base has fostered an adaptable workforce with a strong mechanical bent and a capacity to work independently.
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From page 98... ...
This would be an additional reason to explore net metering on PEI, where the wind powerequipped home feeds power to the grid, slowing or reversing the meter and saving money when power is generated while drawing from the grid when the wind is low in effect, using the grid as a battery. Net energy billing does exist in some Canadian provinces but not yet in PEI.
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From page 99... ...
PEI's membership in this group provides an opportunity to get wind energy on the national trade agenda, once the manufacturing facility is established. The key competing product is solar power, which many potential customers accept as an effective, non-polluting energy source, with no moving parts and a thirty-year life.
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From page 100... ...
In PEI they may be offered as a backup in the event New Brunswick Power was unable to deliver. In any case, it would be valuable to sell a number of units locally for purposes of testing in PEI's maritime environment, and also for marketing the wind turbines, especially the small machines, as a PEI product, used by "the independent Islanders in Anne's Land." With some ingenuity, a package could be developed that would allow Maritime Electric to include home generated renewables as part of a total energy delivery picture.
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From page 101... ...
The wind power industry is at an early critical stage, where the potential market appears unlimited, but the marketing effort is still small. Existing producers still welcome the entry of new competitors because the incremental marketing effort benefits all in an expanding market, and they can be helpful.
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