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Wind farms complement RORs

For most in B.C., February 16, was just another day.

Dear editor:

For most in B.C., February 16, was just another day.

But in the annals of B.C.’s energy sector it was an historic day marked by the official completion of the Dokie wind farm project near Chetwynd.

The Dokie wind farm is now B.C.’s largest wind farm, supplying enough cost-effective renewable green energy annually to power nearly 30,000 average B.C. households.

If that same amount of energy had been generated by burning coal it would have resulted in close to 300,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

In terms of cost-effectiveness and well-proven technology, wind energy ranks right alongside run-of-river energy as one of the most cost-effective renewable energy sources available with one of the smallest environmental footprints of any form of energy generation.

Moreover, wind energy and run-of-river energy complement each other perfectly because wind energy peaks in the stormy winter months when hydro resources are typically at their low point. And neither energy technology harms salmon as traditional hydro dams have in the past.

If it was not for B.C.’s incredibly abundant hydro resources, we would probably have tapped B.C.’s equally abundant wind energy and other renewable green energy resources much sooner than now. The fact that we are now doing so, and diversifying B.C.’s renewable energy portfolio, deserves not only acknowledgement but a hearty two thumbs up.

David Field, B.C. Citizens for Green Energy

Burnaby, B.C.