New electricity rates

[Steve]

And the solar farm, as Im sure you read, was also held up by a bird.

 

They did alot of work trying to avoid damages to a local birds enviroment.

 

At one point the project was almost cancelled all together.

 

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?

[manitoubass2]

 

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?

I know all the contracting details but not much of the backing behind it???

 

If I remeber correctly the loan was $160 million.

 

I worked for both TBT engineering and Black & Macdonald. "We built it" but im unclear as to who we we actually contracted by?

 

I can certainly find out however

[dave524]

And the solar farm, as Im sure you read, was also held up by a bird.

 

They did alot of work trying to avoid damages to a local birds enviroment.

 

At one point the project was almost cancelled all together.

 

Wow , birds don't stand in the way of a wind turbine

 

http://ontario-wind-resistance.org/2013/01/08/wind-turbine-company-nextera-mnr-destroy-bald-eagle-nest-habitat/

[Canuck2fan]

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 can see how that would be, because my limited understanding is, you don't just turn reactors on and off. So they have to be going all the time even at low idle?

 

 

likely not.

 

it'll be spun one way or another.

 

best is to read from all sides and form your own opinion(s).

 

But the SPIN Is the fun part LOL. Just like any controversial topic.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Canuck2fan

[manitoubass2]

 

Wow , birds don't stand in the way of a wind turbine

 

http://ontario-wind-resistance.org/2013/01/08/wind-turbine-company-nextera-mnr-destroy-bald-eagle-nest-habitat/

Thats just bad, very bad

[Steve]

I know all the contracting details but not much of the backing behind it???

 

If I remeber correctly the loan was $160 million.

 

I worked for both TBT engineering and Black & Macdonald. "We built it" but im unclear as to who we we actually contracted by?

 

I can certainly find out however

 

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!

[Steve]

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.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Steve

[leaf4]

So with all these solar farms going in, why is there an increase in our prices? When if ever will we see the benefit of this energy source?

[manitoubass2]

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.

I enjoyed working for them

 

Very well run company

 

Rumour has it an even bigger farm is in the process now in the same area.

 

It was my first time doing a solar farm and my main job was data collection and running RTK measurements on all the piles

 

I measured every single pile on that site. Many of them two or three times when we had a small glitch.

 

I was walking 40km a day according to my phone hahah

[Steve]

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.

[Steve]

I enjoyed working for them

 

Very well run company

 

Rumour has it an even bigger farm is in the process now in the same area.

 

It was my first time doing a solar farm and my main job was data collection and running RTK measurements on all the piles

 

I measured every single pile on that site. Many of them two or three times when we had a small glitch.

 

I was walking 40km a day according to my phone hahah

 

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.

[dave524]

Have you seen the Money Mills along Lake Erie ? ? ?

 

There are / were plans to erect 165 more IN Lake Erie......not sure what going on with that now.

 

I hunted a lot of those fields along Lake Erie 30 years ago for jacks, fox and coyotes. Lot of them have another source of energy just sitting there in the form of gas wells, some capped and some were still used on farms back then. I'd sooner see gas fired generators or steam power than turbines, it's a clean source and just sitting there

[manitoubass2]

 

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.

Mix of both. We actually needed a new design on the piles to prevent shifting.

 

Most was just into earth. A pile typically took about 5 minutes to drill once the operators got the hang of it

 

We had to redo one section on the south side as it was all sorts of outta wack

 

The northing and easting measurements were WAY OFF

 

I actually had to go in and tell the contractors that not every pile was meant to be exact length because thats how they started, when in fact it was designed to contour the land(ie it would dip at the roads etc)

 

Once we got that straight though things went up quick!

 

And did I mention the pay was great? Lol

 

Once I switched from TBT engineering(as they were done there contract) I moved over to black and macdonald

 

There I worked with the electritions to tie everything up(boy was that a chore with the gloves you have to wear and in -15 weather)

 

It was a fun project, I learned alot

Edited October 17, 2015 by manitoubass2

[Steve]

gas fired stations are better than coal, for sure.

 

but they still produce harmful carbon dioxide.

[Steve]

Mix of both. We actually needed a new design on the piles to prevent shifting.

 

Most was just into earth. A pile typically took about 5 minutes to drill once the operators got the hang of it

 

We had to redo one section on the south side as it was all sorts of outta wack

 

The northing and easting measurements were WAY OFF

 

I actually had to go in and tell the contractors that not every pile was meant to be exact length because thats how they started, when in fact it was designed to contour the land(ie it would dip at the roads etc)

 

Once we got that straight though things went up quick!

 

And did I mention the pay was great? Lol

 

Once I switched from TBT engineering(as they were done there contract) I moved over to black and macdonald

 

There I worked with the electritions to tie everything up(boy was that a chore with the gloves you have to wear and in -15 weather)

 

It was a fun project, I learned alot

 

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!

Edited October 17, 2015 by Steve

[manitoubass2]

Thanks man!

 

I actually followed each driller for a few hours each morning for 4 days to teach them how to do it. Id measure on the spot to save time.

 

Each driller got a good system going and I was measuring RTKs and northing and easting by hand to the tune of 350 piles per day.

 

Here is a pic of the conditions lol

 

And also a football i made from tape the held the elctrical on the panels as they were installed lol.

 

Gotta have fun on breaktime?

 

[manitoubass2]

The mud was very hard to drill through. The cylindical of the bottom of the pile would slip off its mark quite often and that was a real challenge in late fall early winter

[Steve]

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.

[manitoubass2]

Thanks!

 

 

And yes back on topic(ive noticed Im very good, unfortunately at derailing threads)

 

My bad

[Mister G]

 

Yes, sure have, we are insuring them.

 

There are no plans to develop any turbines in any water bodies. (and rightfully so).

I'm not so sure about that.........money talks and eventually we walk to the mail box and bend over so they can deliver it home...LOL

 

http://www.mynewwaterfronthome.com/turbineslakes.aspx

[Raf]

Up here the wiND farms go on farm land owned by large scale commercial farms. Ie nobody lives on the land. So of course they dont care they don't live here. The rest of us who do are stuck with the noisy eyesores and can't say boo

[Mister G]

 

I hunted a lot of those fields along Lake Erie 30 years ago for jacks, fox and coyotes. Lot of them have another source of energy just sitting there in the form of gas wells, some capped and some were still used on farms back then. I'd sooner see gas fired generators or steam power than turbines, it's a clean source and just sitting there

 

BINGO ! ! !............give this man one year of free energy........

[Steve]

trying to find a date on that article...appears to be from 2013.

 

as of 2014 and 2015, there is a moratorium on offshore development of wind turbines (and rightly so).

[Mister G]

Up here the wiND farms go on farm land owned by large scale commercial farms. Ie nobody lives on the land. So of course they dont care they don't live here. The rest of us who do are stuck with the noisy eyesores and can't say boo

EXACTLY and you can't sleep at night with the windows open because of the noise and now your home value had just plummeted without any compensation to those who have lived there for generations. And no one else gives a rats behind because it's not their problem, it's yours.

[Steve]

again, gas fired turbines, while better than coal, are not a clean source of energy.....

 

this is, I thought, common knowledge.

 

steam turbines still need a heat source to heat the water to turn to steam. Only option that doesn't produce carbon dioxide is nuclear.

 

Or of course, water turbines using moving water to turn - that is clean and green.