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Samsung turns sod on 250MW green enery project


Not everyone in Ontario is opposing the development of wind farms.

In Haldimand County, Samsung has just turned sod for a $1-billion, 250 MW wind and solar installation, comprising 67 turbines and a 736-acre “solar park.”

The project, expected to employ 1,200 persons during construction, was enabled in part by county council's vote a few years ago to make the county a “green hub,” the Simcoe Reformer reported recently, as well as Samsung's controversial agreement to invest $5-billion in renewable energy in the province.

The 1,200 employment figure includes those employed at the Tillsonburg's Siemens rotary blade plant, a facility that might have been built because of the now-outlawed Made-in-Ontario provision. That provision was recently ruled invalid by the World Trade Organization.

The energy park is close to Port Maitland, well within the disputed Haldimand Tract. As such, it required approval by the Six Nations, which reportedly drove a hard bargain to collect $65-million over the next 20 years.

This might generally equate with the total to be collected by the county over 20 years. County Mayor Ken Hewitt said the county's Community Vibrancy Fund will received $1-million annually, similar to the amenities payments received by Amaranth and Melancthon for the 200 MW Canadian Hydro/TransAlta wind farm. But Haldimand should also be receiving taxes, capped at assessments of $40,000 per MW capacity.

The RCAF museum near the site is also a beneficiary of sorts. In return for ceding its landing/takoff rights at an airstrip, it received an authentic 1940 NA 64 Yale fighter-trainer. An inscription on the side says the plane “starr(e)d” in the movie Captain of the Clouds with James Cagney, according to the Reformer.

The Reformer reported that South Korea's consul general, Chung Kwang-Kyan, was part of the sod turning for the project, along with Samsung Vice-President Jung Soo Kim.

It quoted the consul-general as saying, “The Korean government is paying great attention to Samsung C&T as one of the greatest economic co-operation projects between Korea and Ontario.”

By Wes Keller

 
Post date: 2013-12-04 17:37:16
Post date GMT: 2013-12-04 22:37:16
Post modified date: 2013-12-11 14:36:52
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