Steve

I own a wishmaster muskie lure that I won many years back..... but these things are so nice, it's tough to put them in the water.... I trolled in on Erie once, near the mouth of the Niagara River, where the bottom was pretty uniform.

drilling piles is the toughest part of a solar farm installation. I insure one farm that has maybe 24" of loose soil, then bedrock.... the installers literally kicked the soil aside, and installed directly on bedrock, using rock anchors. that site will never move..... little more cost with rock anchoring, but way better in the long run. but this has taken this thread off track.....and MB, you never cease to amaze me with your background and history.

I'm glad the pay was good. You played a VERY IMPORTANT role (arguably the most important part) in the installation of that farm. The number one problem with the installation of a solar farm is getting the helical piles correct. The hardest sites to do this on are sites that have a mix of soil and rock.... As you mentioned, each pile has to be a different length, depending on the depth of the bedrock. I can tell you, one site I visited under construction had the installer hitting bedrock at unexpected depths, and simply cutting off the top of the pile, so it looked like they were all set at the correct height. That decision cost the EPC contractor about $3M in addition costs to re-engineer their entire site. What you did was invaluable in the long term success of that site - good on ya!

gas fired stations are better than coal, for sure. but they still produce harmful carbon dioxide.

Solar and Wind will NEVER replace Nuclear - nor is anyone saying it will. However, the more we can supplement the nuclear based grid with green energy, the better off we will all be in the future. Was your piles going into earth, or was there any rock anchoring into bedrock? (or a mix of both). I would guess they were all anchored into bedrock, based on the location, but I'm not overly familiar with the topography of rainy river.

there is an increase in hydro cost (which as I already shown is only equal to the USA) because someone has to provide incentive for the developers to build and improve green forms of technology. (whether that be wind turbines, pv solar panels, or hydro facilities). The first solar farm (large utility scale) was built in 2008. From then to now, the technologies have increased by almost 500%. In 10 years from now, it'll be even that much better. The government needs private companies to research and develop more efficient ways of generating clean energy. No one is going to do this out of the goodness of their own heart. As such, incentives need to be given to developers. These intensives are paid by our tax dollars. Certainly, it is much more complicated than that, but that is it in a nutshell.

Nevermind, I stand corrected. I've done some more reading, and Black and Mac did act as the EPC contractor. Cool!! I've seen them on just about all the large scale solar projects, but never seen them act in an EPC capactity. Black and Mac is a great company, and I love seeing them involved with any solar project. edit: Just read RB Somerville was hired by B&M to be the civil contractor responsible for installing all the racks, foundations, and helical screw piles. You have some of Canada's best contractors construct that site. It'll remain functional well beyond its 20 year life cycle.

Black and Mac would have been one of the sub trades on the project, likely responsible for all the electrical and grid connections, but there would have been what is a called the EPC contractor (engineering, procurement, and construction) contractor who would act as the "oversee'er" or "general contractor". Typically PCL or Canadian Solar is the EPC contractor on every project that is 10mw or larger. It's not a big deal. I'm just curious. a 25MW solar farm is a very large farm in comparison to the rest of the provinces solar farms. The average farm is 2mw to 10mw. The largest two are both 100MW. There is the 60MW farm owned by Sault Ste Marie, then there are two more 50mw farms going into development in the next year, but after those, 25MW farms (which I'm aware of only 4, including RRFN) are quite big, as you can see. That is quite an accomplishment!

I read that there was a delay early in construction. Didn't read what the delay was caused by. Out of curiosity, who actually built the project? The RRFN project, at 25MW (a very big farm) should have had a very large builder, likely PCL, or Canadian Solar, maybe White or ABB...but usually it is easy to find out who built the farm...in the 25MW RRFN project, I could not find out that information. Do you know who actually built it?

likely not. it'll be spun one way or another. best is to read from all sides and form your own opinion(s).

Yes, sure have, we are insuring them. There are no plans to develop any turbines in any water bodies. (and rightfully so).

do some reading. you might be surprised. we are contracted to purchase a minimum amount of nuclear power, regardless if we actually purchase it. which means, in periods of low power consumption, we are still paying nuclear producers a minimum amount, regardless if we use it....at those periods, the cost per kw is higher than any form of energy currently produced. I also just did some reading on the RRFN solar farm. Like I suspected, they are only providing their land, much like the deal I mentioned down here. Capital is being provided by Conner, Clark and Lunn, as well as Terrma Capital. Further, the reason it took so long to get shovel to ground was initially (in 2008) RRFN planned to put up wind turbines. However, like I already said in this thread, developers don't just put turbines up all over the place without conducting viability studies. In the case of RRFN, their 2.5 year viability study (which included erecting a MET Tower) said it wasn't viable to put up a wind farm on their land. So off it went to the idea of solar. In 2010 they started the solar viability study. However, it was shown that there wasn't enough T&D capacity to allow for a solar farm. In 2013 they submitted a plan that included updating the T&D lines in the area, so that the solar farm could go ahead. February, 2014 construction starts. Completes January 2015 (received COD status). So, no, it wasn't 7 years in development, at least not the solar portion. But this interesting case does prove that no, you don't just raise turbines anywhere...tests are done...and when it is determined the location is not viable, you move on to another solution - in this case solar. Also, it proves that as a developer, Conner Clark Lunn, and Terrma Capital, it is best to partner with a band of natives, as they have the land, and want to sell it.

do the research. i see it first hand. you're aware of the grand river land tract I'm quite sure. you're aware of all the "stop work" actions the local natives have done on all development within 10km's of each side of the river. well, the native's had no problem giving up 440 hectars (yes hectars) of land for a huge samsung solar development....no actions, no protests, no stop work actions.... why? well, they were given 10% equity in the project. They didn't have to contribute anything, except one site trailer whey a representative from the local band sat and watched tv every day. but that 10% equity worked out to approx $40 million. So give them $40 million and everything goes ahead. If you go to the government website that shows approved sites for future wind and solar development, currently 60% of that approved land is native reserves. Want to know what is even better? No environmental studies are required if developing on native land. That sounds strange right? Want to know why? Because the natives themselves (or the band leaders) use that as incentive for developers to use their land....

of course, two faced Harper could only look dumb: Canada’s current Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- then the leader of the Opposition Canadian Alliance -- co-authored a letter to the Wall Street Journal telling Americans that he strongly disagreed with the prime minister and supported the war. “This is a serious mistake,” Harper wrote, along with foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day. “The Canadian Alliance -- the official opposition in Parliament -- supports the American and British position because we share their concerns, their worries about the future if Iraq is left unattended to, and their fundamental vision of civilization and human values." In 2008, Harper -- by then prime minister -- announced that he had changed his mind and now felt that the war was a mistake.

Jean Cretien is the best prime minister we have had in my lifetime (I was born in 1980). It was March 17, 2003, less than nine months before he would resign as one of Canada’s most successful prime ministers, when Chrétien stood up in the House of Commons and stated: “If military action proceeds without a new resolution of the [united Nations] Security Council, Canada will not participate.” To this day, the proudest moment I've ever had. Good on ya Jean!!!

That is correct. One of the biggest proponents for wind and solar development are the Indian reserves. They truthfully could care less about where they go up...as long as they get paid.

keep running scared. again, 1km setback for a non leased land owner....no, these are not 1km in height..... a bribe? keep running scared. the fact that farmers have options for their land, when crops can not be grown any longer (for any number of reasons), it a great thing...just ask the farmers. questionable technology? As I already said, do some reading, these are not new. The technology is not questionable. and yes, I do believe they would have gone even if land owners didn't lease their lands....because, please, don't take this the wrong way, native reserves all over the province are lining up to lease their land.....for wind or solar....government will not use crown land. finally, there is a moratorium against off shore wind development, and with our country having so much unused land, I will never see offshore wind in my lifetime (nor will you). I understand finding information for yourself can be tough, so if you want real information, just ask....my daily job is insuring solar, wind, and small hydro. It is my job to know about every part of the process....from pre land leasing, to covering land prior to development, to the actual development, to the completed development and future 20 year operation. This includes all the environmental aspects, especially when relating to pollution. (as we cover pollution losses). Just don't be afraid of something you don't understand. Read. Learn. Educate. Yes, green energy is not perfect. But it is getting much better.

so now we have gotten to the bottom of it.... folks who have leased their land to the wind developers, because they felt it fit their financial and future goals, have decided to use their land for that purpose, and not your hunting purpose.... usually when you get to the bottom of these things, it usually comes back to nimby'ism...in your case, it wasn't even your back yard. no one is forcing land owners to put turbines on their property....it's the land owners who have decided to lease their land....in the province on Ontario and Quebec, there are more land owners offering their land than their are developers to put turbines on the land.....

last nights game was a little scary. the two games the Jays lost against Texas, the Jays could have won, but a couple bad breaks and it didn't go their way. last nights game the Jays got beat on every part of the game. they are going to have to step it up about 10 notches if they want to get past this round.

The ones that are motionless are under maintenance. Truthfully, you have no clue how long it takes to recoup, so your sincerest doubt is irrelevant. Question: Where do you hear the whirring noise? Specifically please. As part of my job is doing decibel tests, the only way to be close enough to hear the noise is to be within 250m of one. The only way you would be that close is if you leased your OWN Land (and getting paid to do so), as government setbacks are 500m is you lease your land for one, or 1km if you don't. Testing shows the human ear can hear the "whirring sound" within 250m of the base of a 2MW turbine (and even further away for the turbines that are higher in the air). This fishing board is fun to read the general public's understanding on many things in life. Food, Politics, Construction / Renovation, etc. etc. But what it also shows is the lack of education relating to many of the topics discussed. And the scary part is, all the correct information is out there to be read. Most of us are simply to lazy to do so, so instead we talk about whirring sounds and dying birds, lol.

Any idea what price our government pays for nuclear power? And any idea of the fix guaranteed contract we gave the nuclear power plants to purchase their power, whether we actually purchase it or not? I suggest some folks do some reading, and some learning, so that you become much better informed.

great game. Love that Leo made it official. another fantastic, entertaining Leafs game. love this season so far. edit: and Leo follows up with the open net goal....great game boys, great game!

Le Le Le Le Leeeeeeooooooooo

oh I'm watching Roy...i'm watching!! thought phaneuf was going to go clarkson...that would have been awesome!

if your going to fish the kawartha's, you can save some money by purchasing two black and orange bucktails, one buchertail, the other, well, just two buchertails.... just fish those....you'll catch fish....and save some coin :) (of course, lure shopping is fun)