I’m not much of a NIMBY, and certainly not an activist, but want to take a moment to raise awareness of something that seems like a Really Bad Idea.
In a nutshell, a large corporation has planned a pumped storage installation on an untouched stretch of Georgian Bay near the Bruce Peninsula. Federal land owned by Department of National Defense and used for land forces training, the shoreline is quite spectacular. Once its destroyed, its gone forever.
Pumped Storage dates back to the 1930s, and is basically pumping water uphill to a storage pond, then releasing it to run back downhill and generate hydro electric power. This plant will be a massive 1000 megawatts, and to generate that much power, they’ll burn 1300 megawatts pumping it uphill. The money is made by buying power off-peak when its cheap, to do the pumping. Then selling it at peak hours, when they release it to run through the turbines. Its not “green” energy… that 1300 megawatts to pump the water uphill comes from the grid and all sources powering it, including gas powered generating plants.
This plant will be on the scale of the Ludington plant on Lake Michigan (google it) which has proven famously efficient at killing fish by the millions as they get chopped up in the turbines. The chopped up biomass goes back into the lake of course… The site chosen on Georgian Bay has a clay bottom, and all that churned up clay will hang in suspension for ages. There goes the clear water that the area is known for.
So, if like me, you think this is a bad idea – please add your name to the petition. I hope its not a futile effort – there are literally billions of dollars at play here. But maybe the politicians will listen. Its old technology. It will destroy a beautiful little corner of the earth.
