Energy and Environment

Wind Power

Elgin County is home to one of the most advanced and largest Energy and Environment based wind power projects in Canada. Innovative and forward-thinking interest from the public and private sector in the deployment of emerging environmental technologies, including ethanol, waste treatment, and bio-energy continues to grow.

The Erie Shores Wind Farm along the shoreline near the municipalities of Bayham and Malahide, is one of Canada’s largest wind farms. The farm operates 66 turbines along 29 kms of shoreline, and generates enough electricity to power 30,000 households annually.

Renewable Alternatives

Renewable alternatives to fossil fuels have become a worldwide necessity to combat our reliance on oil and reduce the effects of climate change. The development and support of alternative energy technologies is growing provincially and nationally, and Ontario now enforces an annual average of 5% ethanol in gasoline.

Integrated Grain Processors Co-Operative Inc.’s new $132 million ethanol plant located in Aylmer Ontario is capable of producing roughly 150 million litres of denatured fuel-grade ethanol annually.

Viable Energy Sources

Elgin County's local businesses are setting examples in environmental sustainability, such as creating viable energy sources through the use of waste from wood and heating plant operations, as well as testing bio-digesters on farms.

Noroxel Energy Limited's new biodiesel plant is located just outside of Springfield and will soon be capable of producing 10 million litres of fuel a year.

Water Treatment

A new water treatment facility in West Elgin features the use of innovative and sustainable water treatment. The facility incorporates the use of a wetland, which replaces the need for a residuals treatment facility by purifying waste water through a natural water system.