John Risley says delay in wind-hydrogen plan is no cause for alarm
Environmental requests brings 'legitimate questions,' World Energy GH2 proponent says
The chairman of World Energy GH2 says residents of Newfoundland and Labrador shouldn't be concerned about a delay in the corporation's proposal for wind energy production in western Newfoundland.
"This is a brand new industry, and there isn't a project like this…in Canada. So you can imagine the government is wanting to move cautiously and we completely understand that," John Risley told CBC News.
A verdict for World Energy GH2's proposal to build at least 328 wind turbines on the Port au Port Peninsula and Codroy Valley along with a hydrogen-ammonia plant was put on hold Wednesday, as Environment Minister Bernard Davis told the company to provide more information on a series of potential impacts.
In a letter to the company, Davis said the areas that require information include water use and water monitoring, assessing the potential and cumulative effects of the project, emergency and contingency plans.
"These are all, in our view, completely legitimate questions. And we're going to work to answer them as comprehensively as we can." Risley said Wednesday.
"The government in its review has decided that, well, 'we'd like a bit more information here and a bit more information there.' And that's not, we don't think that's particularly unusual.
"Nobody should read anything into it other than exactly what the government is saying."
The provincial government had sent itself a deadline of Tuesday to announce an environmental decision on World Energy GH2's bid.
The request for more information will keep the project from being greenlighted for some time. Any amendments that are submitted will require a 50-day public input period, plus an additional two to three weeks after that.
Risley said that can be a problem in an industry like hydrogen and wind production — where time and money is of the essence as the market becomes more and more competitive — but World Energy GH2 is ready to help the government any way it can.
"I don't think anybody's suggesting it's going to take another year, but it's certainly going to take another couple of months," he said.
Risley acknowledged that the delay will give critics more time to put the proposal under the microscope but he said the company has done work to win over local residents, some of whom have vocally opposed the prospect of turbines in their midst.
"We are going to help the province move to a zero-emissions state, and that should be something that the entire province is pulling for. Do some people want this to happen in somebody else's backyard and not theirs? Yeah, we get that," he said.
"We want this to be a very positive force for the Newfoundland economy.… We understand our responsibility to earn a social license, and you don't do that overnight."
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With files from On The Go
