New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir's announcement at a conference this past Thursday in Saint John said that the plans on creating enough wind energy by 2025 to power 4,500 megawatts, more than double the current output from traditional sources. The Minister is endorsing a wind power study that suggests the province could add 2,500 to 4,500 megawatts of commercially competitive wind power by 2025. In comparison, Point Lepreau's nuclear reactor generates about 630 megawatts and the entire province's generating capacity presently is just under 4,000 megawatts. Unlike nuclear power, it's safe, non-toxic and a clean source of power. New Brunswick has great sites for generating windpower, based on the volume and reliability of the wind and relatively low population. It has an excellent electrical grid and is close to key markets in need of energy, mainly Nova Scotia and the Northeastern United States. The opportunities there are wonderful," Keir said. "Not only for ratepayers of electricity but the environment and a new industry could be built in New Brunswick on this opportunity."
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. Wind power is produced in large scale wind farms connected to electrical grids, as well as in individual turbines for providing electricity to isolated locations. Wind energy is clean, plentiful, renewable, widely distributed.. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions when it displaces fossil-fuel-derived electricity