Financing small wind energy projects in Nova Scotia isn’t easy, says John Brereton, president of Natural Forces Wind Inc.
The Halifax-based company raised $2.35 million earlier this year through Wind4All Communities Inc., a community economic development investment fund, to build a $11-million Fairmont wind project.
Wind4All was the most successful community development investment fund in the province since the program’s inception more than a decade ago.
But Brereton said in an Oct. 9 letter to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board that financing small wind projects remains a challenge.
“Project finance debt for this size of project is difficult to attract in the Canadian banking market,” he said in his letter to the regulatory board. “We approached all of the chartered banks locally and received, at best, a modest response.”
In countries such as India, I doubt financing for small wind project even exist, given the nascent stage of the development of the industry and scarce knowledge & subsequent uncertainties about the sector
Article Source Credit – The Chronicle Herald
