According to the online business daily Handelsblatt, German green energy hustlers and creditors are fuming over the Ontario government’s decision to halt the 54 million euro White Pines wind energy project by Bremen Germany-based WPD.
Wind energy opponents, environmentalists celebrate
Wind energy opponents, who have grown in strength worldwide, view the recent development as a major victory against the destruction of Canada’s natural landscape.
The County Weekly News site here reported: “It was welcome news for people who have been battling the erection of wind turbines in Prince Edward County.
The project was not welcome
Prince Edward County Mayor Robert Quaiff said, “Earlier today, the municipality learned that the Ontario Government intends to cancel the White Pines Wind Project upon resumption of the provincial legislature (and) we commend (them) for taking swift action to end this project, which has been met with opposition across Prince Edward County.”
Once a province that welcomed wind energy projects, Ontario has slammed the door on them since the province’s new progressive conservative government has come to power.
Citizens have had enough of the high environmental price tag that comes with the volatile green energy source.
German profiteers face a huge loss
According to the Handelsblatt, Ontario’s newly elected government promised to halt the permitting of new wind energy projects across the province.
However, it turns out that also already been permitted projects or those under construction would be halted as well, much to the delight of the growing anti-wind energy movement.
“For WPD this is a bitter setback,” the Handelsblatt reports. “The project was first planned for 29 wind turbines, but the number was reduced to nine over the course of the permitting process.”
The Handelsblatt reports that citizens are becoming increasingly fed up with wind parks blighting the natural landscape. The new progressive conservative Ontario government agrees.
Ten years of planning and permitting down the drain
WPD chairman Hartmut Brösamle told the Handelsblatt that they had worked on the White Pines project for 10 years, getting all the permits and feed-in and financing contracts signed, and so the stop came as a surprise for WPD.
Brösamle also told the Handelsblatt that company hopes the government will change its mind and allow the project to move forward.
The halting of the White Pines project also affects other involved parties, such as the German KfW public bank (100% state-owned) and the Munich public utility. So expect German government officials to put considerable pressure on Canada to reverse the project halt.
According to the Handelsblatt, the KfW bank is the world’s largest development bank and Germany’s third largest bank overall.
Read more at No Tricks Zone
