Financial Impact
The land lease benefits of two of the industrial wind turbine projects go to the Indonesian based owners of Northern Pulp, who inherited a $75,000,000 NS taxpayer loan that purchased the property, and who is now suing NS taxpayers.
The 3-year construction phase could possibly bring a few local benefits but there would very little long-term economic opportunity to local stakeholders. Tax revenues would be attractive to cash strapped municipalities but there are thousands of hectares in those same municipalities with excellent wind regime that do not threaten the significant local tourism industry. Wentworth area tourism and outdoor recreation has driven a flurry of homes to be built in the area in the past twenty years that brings significant tax revenue to the local governments. This is desirable tax revenue as well to the counties by land users who demand little to no services. These projects could limit future land development for outdoor recreational activities and home development. Wind turbine projects have an end date and wind energy trends appear to be moving offshore.
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