Ontario businesses unite to promote offshore wind power

A consortium of Lake Ontario-based companies has come together to further the development of wind power in the province and to take advantage of the government’s proposed development of more than 2,900 MW of offshore wind power in the next five years. The Lake Ontario Offshore Network (LOON) consists of manufacturers and suppliers in Hamilton, Niagara, Kingston and elsewhere with an interest in developing offshore wind power. The group has won official recognition from the cities of Hamilton and Kingston, which hope to benefit from the estimated $850 million in economic contribution to their economies through job creation and investment.

The only offshore power Feed-in-Tariff contract in the province of Ontario at present is the Wolfe Island Shoals project near Kingston. It has the potential to bring 1,900 construction jobs to the area, and over 175 full-time jobs when construction is complete, according to Kingston’s mayor, Mark Gerretsen. The contract was awarded to Windstream Energy by the Ontario Power Authority in May, 2010.

In a statement announcing the latest membership in LOON, Ian Baines, president of Windstream Energy said that whoever builds the first offshore wind farm in Ontario will be in a position to export the technology to the future North American market as it develops. “We want Ontario to be home to that expertise,” said Baines.

Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc. signed a binding agreement with Siemens Canada Limited to supply up to 130 turbines for the 300MW offshore wind power project. The turbine blades will be manufactured at Siemens' renewable energy plant located in Tillsonburg, Ontario. The project is planned to be located from five to sixteen kilometers off the southwest shore of Wolfe Island.

Other members of LOON include Akzo Nobel Coating Limited, Anchor Concrete Products Ltd., Bermingham Foundation Solutions, Essar Steel Algoma Inc., Great Lakes Stevedoring Co. Ltd., the Hamilton Port Authority, the Kingston Economic Development Corporation, Mammoet Canada Eastern Ltd., McKeil Marine Limited, the Niagara Industrial Association, Ortech Power, Samuel & Son, Limited, Seaway Marine & Industrial Inc, Siemens Wind Power, M. Sullivan & Sons Ltd., Vestas Wind Systems, Walters Inc. and Windstream Energy Inc. The consortium employs more than 7,000 people in Ontario.