R.M. OF SOUTH QU’APPELLE, Sask. – Not all his neighbours are happy about it, but Curtis Wass is still measuring wind speeds on his property. The large Sonic Detection and Ranging (SODAR) device emits a beeping noise as it measures the scattering of sound waves.
“They’re getting favourable results from this that would warrant putting up a wind farm,” Wass said.
“The wind is there. We all know that living in Saskatchewan.”
Wass was one of several landowners approached by Renewable Energy Systems, a company that wants to explore wind turbines in the Rural Municipality of South Qu’Appelle.
Wass said residents have been told a wind turbine on their property could be worth up to $15,000 per year.
Ultimately, councillors wouldn’t change a bylaw that would have allowed for meteorological test towers to be constructed. The decision followed a heated debate in February that left the community divided.
“Someone has got to step up and say, ‘Go ahead in my backyard.”
So he couldn’t install a test tower, but Wass and the company aren’t giving up on wind power in the area.
“It’s not going to solve all of our energy issues, but it sure can’t hurt,” Wass said. “I can’t see a problem.”
Opponents often cite health problems linked to wind turbines. A recent Health Canada study couldn’t find a connection.
Research published in the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics has now shown little effect on property values of homes within one kilometre of wind farms.
“On average, there was not a significant impact,” said the study’s co-author, Richard Vyn, an agricultural economist at the University of Guelph.
“Even for properties that had a turbine fully visible from their living room window.”
There are already a number of projects contributing to Saskatchewan’s power grid, with more under development. Still, wind-generated power only makes up about three per cent of the province’s total supply.
Wind energy advocates hope new research will help push that number higher.
“It will continue to cause people to ask, ‘Why is it that we have a world class wind energy resource and we’re not using it,'” said James Glennie, Saskatchewan Community Wind president.
Where they can’t use it, they’ll at least keep measuring it, as Wass tries to win over his neighbours down the road.
“We want green power … someone has got to step up and say, ‘Go ahead in my backyard.”
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