Grand Opening of Ravenswood
The last of the 6 turbines at Ravenswood was commissioned at about 3:30 this afternoon. The ribbon cutting was held at 4:30.
Why would you delay these things?
A crowd of about 200 people – a mix of contractors, neighbours and local residents, wind industry people, and politicians were there. The Ontario Power Authority, which runs that Standard Offer Program, and buys some of the power, and Conservation Bureau were well represented with 4 key people who have worked on the Standard Offer. Bullfrog Power was out in force. Bullfrog is a key customer, and customers are what makes projects happen. The Energy Minister, Gerry Phillips was there, and spoke about the importance of renewable energy, and conservation in the province. His participation in the celebration spoke volumes about his attitude toward the expansion of renewable energy. The Sarnia Observer, and Forest Standard were there. Local radio stations covered the event. The Weather Network is coming tomorrow to climb a tower, and take some footage. Some family members, friends from my Woodstock upbringing, and even 3 people all the way from Lion’s Head were there. There were prospective developers from Windsor, Prince Edward County (near Kingston), as well as local landowners and wind developers.
This is the first wind project in Lambton County, and will supply enough power for 3000 homes on average.
But you know, I have a thin skin. I received some brutal criticism. It came from the parents of one of the landowners, who live on one of the properties that hosts a wind turbine. Was it noise? Perhaps shadow flicker? Perhaps the site wasn’t properly looked after?
“I have a problem with this project.”
“Oh, what is that?”, I said, dreading the response.
“The contractors who worked on this project were too neat. They were too tidy. My son-in-law likes things neat and tidy, and I am not always that way. They made me looked bad.”
Criticism accepted. I will instruct the contractors to be messier next time.
Many thanks to the contractors and suppliers, Carlsun, Tiltran, Vestas, ESAC, Jay Dee Concrete, Bruce Poland, Dave Hawkins, Dietrich, Latta Crane, Van Tams fencing, Erie Thames, Enbridge, EMC Concrete, Hydro One, Amtelecom, Lloyd Hendricks Drainage, and Credit Union Central (the banker). You made me look bad to a family member of a landowner. And you got the job done.
Thanks also to the Forest Optimists, who provided the hall and the bar, and to Alana’s Fine Dining, the caterer, and to Marge Rutten, and Sandy Dortmans, who looked after decorations.
It takes a lot of people to build a project. But it is now built and commissioned. The coal plants can run a little less tonight.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Nice work Glen
I am glad I made the trip to see the project and talk with you and your team. Congratulations!!!
It was nice to see a community supporting wind in such a away.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I have photos: http://scruss.com/gallery/v/ravenswood/
Thanks for putting on a great event, Glen!
January 24th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Congratulations on a job well done! As a Bullfrog Power customer, I’ve been watching with interest, and I couldn’t be happier things are finally up and running!
January 24th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Does anyone really care?
I keep reading about people wanting to save energy but when I tell them about an Air Recycling Technology that can save 1.5 Terawatt of electricity a year in the UK alone, that is about £150,000,000. (One hundred and fifty million pounds worth at 10p a unit) and 650,000 Tons of CO2, (20 million Tons a year world wide) I fail to get any practical response.
It has been tested on behalf of the Government DTI and DEFRA for the Market Transformation Program and the tests support the above energy efficiency predictions.
I have spent 15 years on this project building prototypes at my own expense and now at 80 years of age I may never see the final results of my work.
All I can do now is to inform as many people as possible and hope that I can find someone to manufacture and market this machine. Not to difficult as prototypes have already been made and tested.
I have approached airline companies for support but so far without any response, perhaps if others joined me we could get a hearing.
In addition to being energy efficient it is also safe for use by people suffering from respiratory diseases.
To see more information please go to my web page at
http://www.edginton.info/arc
Ben.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Wow…congratulations, Glen! Wish we could have been there. Keep ‘em coming.
Tami
January 24th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
It is a challenging issue to put output live for people to see, although it would certainly be interesting to people. I do summarize output in monthly blog entries, and the banner of the blog has production total since Ferndale 2 was commissioned. It’s sort of my low tech but achievable partial solution.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
That’s a moving entry. We made the journey to Ribbon Cutting #1 and Ribbon Cutting #2, and I am sorry to have missed this one.
Way to go. A little less coal every night and we might just start seeing a cleaner planet.
January 25th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Howdy,
God bless you with his breath, keep the blades turning, used to drive to Red Lake many moons ago all the way from flatlands of Texas! love those Walleye good enough for breakfast too.I now reside in far West Texas and the wind power is starting to crank up in these parts too! Keep up the good work so we can keep telling about GOOD NEWS
Mike
January 25th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Ah, let it blow, let it blow, let it blow!!
As an former Ontarian now living in BC, where the first wind project is FINALLY under construction, I love reading what is going on in my old stomping grounds! Way to go Ravenswood! Keep up the great work.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Glenn, This is quite a feat. The pictures were small but great. It meant so much more to me since I Had been to the ones near your home. Betty
January 30th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Way to go Glen.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Congratulations to Glen and the Sky Generation team on Ravenswood. I have a high wind hilly location on my farm near Napanee and am interested in developing that resource. Perhaps the Sky Generation team would like another challenge!
August 12th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
We were surprised to be able to see (with the naked eye) the blades turning just as the sun is getting ready to set. Our vantage point is across the lake south of Lexington, Michigan (about 27 miles away).