Since it began commercial operation in May 2006, the Erie Shores Wind Farm has not only put Elgin County at the forefront for energy and environmental projects, it has brought significant economic benefits to the County and many residents.

Erie Shores Wind Farm consists of 66 turbines placed at intervals along 26 kilometres of Lake Erie shoreline in the townships of Bayham and Malahide. Power collected from the turbines is carried underground to a transformer station just north of Port Burwell, then transmitted to the Hydro One circuit just east of Tillsonburg to feed into the Ontario electricity market.

“We are generating 250,000 megawatt-hours of power every year,” says plant manager Dennis Haggerty. “And every megawatt of power we generate means less oil or coal or gas that has to be burned, producing greenhouse gases. This power plant is absolutely pollution-free.”

The power it generates is sufficient to meet the needs of 30,000 to 40,000 homes. That’s a significant contribution to Ontario’s power grid from a county with a population of about 50,000.

The Erie Shores Wind Farm also contributes to Elgin County’s economy.

Owned and operated by Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund, a TSX-listed company, the wind farm creates direct employment for up to 15 people during the year. That includes technicians from General Electric, builders of the turbines, who maintain the complex, computer-controlled machines under contract.

Each of the 66 turbines generates local tax revenue, as does the right-of-way for the transmission line. Important revenue also goes to the 44 landowners from whom land is leased for the turbines, as well as others whose land is optioned in case of future expansion of the wind farm.

Haggerty notes that the success of Erie Shores Wind Farm has demonstrated how Elgin County welcomes new business development.

“It was a big, big plus that Elgin County supported the project,” he says. “Without the support of the local landowners and the municipalities and the County, nothing would have happened.”

The wind farm was built by AIM PowerGen Corporation of Toronto, which later sold it to Macquarie. Jim Wilgar, who spearheaded the five-year development project for AIM PowerGen, agrees with Haggerty that local cooperation was critical to its success.

“We had absolutely wonderful cooperation,” Wilgar says. “We were extremely fortunate to have begun our first wind-power project in this community.

“Once the majority of landowners had a sense of what we were attempting to do, then the interest and commitment on the part of the decision-makers from the townships and County was exceptional.”

Wilgar, who is monitoring the site for possible future expansion, frequently conducts tours of the Erie Shores Wind Farm for service clubs, business groups and students from the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College. He regards it as a source of community pride.

“That plant is there because of a lot of people working together,” he says. “I think it is still a model for wind-power development in this province.”