7-turbine wind farm in Charlotte County proposed by First Nations, N.S. company
White Spruce Wind Energy Project would supply over 10,000 homes annually with renewable energy
A Halifax-based renewable energy company is working with First Nations communities in New Brunswick to bolster wind energy production in the province.
SWEB Development is now partnering with Woodstock First Nation and the North Shore Mi'kmaq Tribal Council Inc. — representing seven First Nations communities in the province — to build a 49-megawatt wind farm with up to seven turbines.
A public engagement session was held Thursday night in Fredericton Junction for the White Spruce Wind Energy Project, which would be built south of the village, on Crown land in Charlotte County.
Jason Parisé, director of development and wind lead for SWEB Development, said his team has been working with the Woodstock First Nation on this project since 2016.
The White Spruce project would be the second project of its kind pursued by the community and the renewable energy developer.
"We're a very community-oriented organization, we're committed to renewable energy development that prioritizes the communities that we work within," Parisé said.
Parisé said the intention is to sell the power generated from the wind farm to N.B. Power and supply over 10,000 homes with energy per year. There are already seven wind farms in New Brunswick that hold 25-year agreements with the utility.
"That energy would essentially flow to where it's needed," Parisé said.
The CBC requested interviews with the Woodstock First Nation and North Shore Mi'kmaq Tribal Council Inc. but did not receive a response.
Parisé said the idea is to create equity partnerships with communities, who typically are the majority owners of a project.
"We're able to provide our expertise as wind or solar energy developers, construction oversight and operators," Parisé said. "And First Nations communities bring a very unique perspective to the development planning."
Debbie Gillett, a resident of Hoyt, 10 kilometres southeast of the village of Fredericton Junction, said she's feeling good about the project so far.
"It seems like a logical thing to do … it saves the province from having to build these," she said.
Gillett's only concern is the proximity of the project to her family's camp.
Jason Mclaughlin, who lives about 12 kilometres from the project site, said he is concerned about the noise, a mechanical hum produced by wind turbines.
"That's my biggest concern … [that] it causes fatigue and depression," Mclaughlin said. "[And] I guess the effects on animals, that's a big hunting area and whether that will chase all of the animals away."
Health Canada led a study starting in 2012 in Ontario and Prince Edward Island that investigated whether wind turbine noise causes health effects for nearby residents of wind turbines.
The authors said scientific evidence about the relationship between wind turbine noise was limited. But they found that wind turbine noise was not associated with self-reported sleep problems, illnesses or chronic health conditions or to stress or reports of a lesser quality of life.
The study did find a higher proportion of people in the area of wind farms showed annoyance with rising levels of wind turbine noise, shadow flicker, blinking lights, vibrations and visual impacts.
"Findings suggest that health and well-being effects may be partially related to activities that influence community annoyance, over and above exposure to wind turbines," the study said.
Parisé said the White Spruce Wind Energy Project would cost between $150 million to $175 million, but the estimate could change as the cost of goods fluctuates. He said SWEB is still trying to determine the impact that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs will have on the project cost.
Parisé said the wind projects are funded in part by community equity, by seeking financing from banks and, in some cases, from the federal government.
The next phase of the project, once approvals are received, will be to source funding and start the bidding process for a contractor.
Working with community
Parisé said the projects usually involve finding unique ways to support each community depending on its particular needs.
SWEB Development has already built an 18-megawatt wind farm in partnership with Woodstock First Nation. And the community named it the Wisokolamson Energy Project, after the Wolastoqey term for "windy."
That project involved adding a solar panel to the top of Woodstock First Nation's office centre. A bursary program was also created, which provides two bursaries each year to students from the community who are entering a post-secondary school.
That project was built on Crown land in Albert County, and began commercial operation in 2019.
SWEB also held a public engagement session in Juniper, north of Woodstock, last fall for the Deersdale Wind Energy Project.
That is a proposed 21-megawatt three-turbine generator project, which will be located in Deersdale, about 90 kilometres northwest of Fredericton.
That would supply enough energy for 4,620 homes each a year. If the project receives all approvals, construction would begin in 2026 and commercial operation in 2027.
SWEB Development is the Canadian subsidiary of W.E.B., an Austrian renewable energy developer with a goal to fight climate change. According to the company's website, as of 2023, it operates 284 wind energy projects, 51 solar projects and two small hydroelectric power plants in Austria, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Canada and the United States.
All of those projects combined provide over one million people with renewable electricity.
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