The Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued a significant decision on May 13 that will allow construction to resume on a $200-million wind farm south of Ottawa.

Work on the Nation Rise Wind Farm, a 29-wind turbine, 100-megawatt wind energy project in the Municipality of North Stormont, was called to a halt in December when provincial environment minister Jeff Urek ordered construction stopped due to its suspected impacts on the local bat population.

Project owners EDP Renewables Canada (EDPR) applied for judicial review to strike down Yurek’s order. The divisional court ruled in favour of the company, and reinstated construction.

In its decision, the court called the minister’s decision “not reasonable” and said it “does not meet requirements of transparency, justification and intelligibility.”

It concluded, “this is a rare case in which the Minister’s decision should be quashed and the decision of the [Environmental Review Tribunal] should be reinstated.” 

EDPR says is eager to recommence construction of the Nation Rise Wind Farm. It says the project will bring much needed jobs and investment to the community. It has already created more than 230 local construction jobs and will create around 10 full-time local jobs as well as numerous indirect jobs during operations. The project is also expected to inject more than $45 million over 30 years into the local community through municipal taxes, a community benefit fund, charitable contributions and landowner payments. 

“EDP Renewables stands behind the benefits of the project and its commitments to the local community,” said Miguel Prado, EDP Renewables North America CEO. “We look forward to the Nation Rise Wind Farm stimulating the local economy in the Township of North Stormont, United Counties of Stormont Dundas and Glengarry and the Ottawa region.”

The delay to the project, said the company, “has resulted in unnecessary expenditures to-date, at a time when governments and businesses should be focused on reducing costs and restarting the economy.”

Nation Rise Wind Farm will provide low-cost energy at approximately half the price of typical residential electricity rates, while producing zero-emission electricity.