What Happened to CS Wind?
CS Wind is a south Korean-based company that set up operations in Windsor, Ontario in 2011 to build wind towers for the "Big 3" turbine makers -- Vestas, Siemens and GE. Its operations were part of the then Ontario Liberal government's green energy plans set up with Samsung, and it received $10 million from the province, as well as concessions from the municipal government.
The entire Samsung partnership with
the government included more than $100 million in incentives,
on top of an agreement by the province to buy energy from CS
Wind at above-market rates. It was hailed as an example of the
future of green energy for Ontario and the City of Windsor.
In 2015, the Financial Post reported that "since 2006, when the province first started subsidizing wind turbines, the province has provided more than $1.92 billion in subsidies. This act of corporate welfare is far from over. [...] In total, the amount of subsidies to wind producers could hit $8 billion over the next decade and $13 billion over the next 20 years."
The plant officially closed in 2019, laying off hundreds of workers. CS Wind ended its operations when it did because the Liberal government's Green Energy Investment Agreement was only effective until December 31, 2017 and there were no new agreements in place to continue subsidizing the building of wind towers. Shortly after the Ford government was elected in 2018, it announced it was cancelling 758 wind and solar contracts in the province.
The province's public accounts for 2018-19 show spending of $231 million by the Ministry of Energy on unexplained "other transactions." An NDP researcher uncovered that these "other transactions" were "to fulfil a government commitment to wind down renewable energy contracts." In other words, more public funds to cancel the contracts. Now, the Ford government is telling municipalities that they should ramp up electricity production with new contracts for private providers to serve electric battery makers and the agriculture sector.
This article was published in
Volume 53 Number 4 - April 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/M530047.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca