Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
Calgary-based company Ventori Energy Inc. is looking to build wind turbines in Valemount. In exchange for land where the turbines can be installed, the company would share 25 per cent of its revenue with the Village, the company’s vice president Sarah Scott said in a delegation to Valemount Council on November 26th.
Ventori is a relatively new company, having been incorporated on April 24th, according to Alberta’s corporate registration system. However, Ventori’s sister companies – Australia-based ReVair and US-based Pascal – have both been incorporated for over a decade. Valemount is the first municipality to answer Ventori’s inquiries, Scott told The Goat.
The company has not yet found a manufacturing plant to produce the turbine in Canada, but they are working on shipping prototypes from Australia, Scott said. The company has worked closely with Rudolph Oelofse, the inventor and patent-holder of their wind turbine, she said.
According to court documents obtained by The Goat, Oelofse has been sued at least twice: once in 2018 for fraud, and again in 2021 for neglecting to pay the law firm he contracted to help him obtain patents.
“For months, Oelofse and/or his agents made a variety of false promises and misrepresentations to [the] plaintiffs… including that they would receive a benefits and ownership interest in the technology and/or the company,” the 2018 suit filed against Oelofse reads.
The 2018 plaintiffs opted to settle out of court, according to documents from the Superior Court of California in the County of Sacramento.
The 2021 case was also dismissed by the court as neither party appeared at trial, according to documents from the Superior Court of California in the County of Orange.
Scott declined to comment on either suit against Oelofse.
Delegation in Valemount
During her delegation to Council, Scott outlined the company’s hopes for a wind energy project in Valemount, alongside Sales Director Teaken Blair.
Installing wind turbines in Valemount could generate millions of dollars in revenue, according to Scott and Blair. The revenue would be split four ways between the Village, Ventori, Pascel, and another investor. According to Scott, the company has not found the fourth investor yet.
Ventori staff estimate that each turbine could produce about $2M annually, so an installment of 50 turbines would amount to $100M/year, or about $24M per investor. While Valemount would receive the same portion of revenue as the other investors, the Village would not have to buy shares in the company, according to Scott and Blair.
“We’re not expecting you guys to put any money into this – all we need is land,” Blair said.
Scott and Blair said the type of turbines Ventori would produce – called Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, or VAWTs – are more compact, less noisy and better for local bird populations than traditional turbines. They are 60 feet tall and 40 feet wide, and constructed from an organic composite material which is significantly lighter and stronger than steel, according to the presentation. The turbines can last for up to 25 years with no maintenance, Blair said.
Scott and Blair referenced a 2014 study titled “Institutional Perspectives on Small Wind Energy Permitting” as evidence of the turbines’ low impact on local bird populations. While the study largely focuses on comparing various local government policies on wind energy and does not focus on Oelofse’s patented turbines in particular, its section on bird ecology did conclude that VAWTs have a minimal impact on bird ecology and behaviour.
The turbines would connect to a battery which would provide power to the Village, Blair said. According to him, this would allow the Village to move completely off-grid.
Questions from Council
After Scott and Blair’s presentation concluded, Council moved to receive the delegation.
Councillor Hollie Blanchette asked how much it would cost to replace a turbine, and if the Village would be expected to cover that cost.
“This is a really good question, because whose responsibility is it to replace the turbines? These are all questions that we’re still working out,” Scott said. “The way the agreement would work is that we are selling the energy, we’re not selling you the turbines.”
Scott added that the company would establish a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) – a type of contract between an electricity generator and a customer – with Valemount if the Village decided to strike a deal with Ventori.
Councillor Pete Pearson asked if Ventori would need to build a substation to connect the wind energy turbines to the community power supply.
“We wouldn’t necessarily need a substation for a small amount of turbines,” Blair said. “But you’re right, if we’re running a substantial amount of energy, then it wouldn’t work with just the batteries, we would need a substation. So it just depends on how many turbines we run.”
Pearson asked if the Village could continue working with Independent Power Producers if it partnered with Ventori.
“One of our philosophies is [that] we are looking to collaborate and cooperate with other existing forms of energy function,” Scott said. “We’re not asking you to cut it off at that, we want this to be an addition.”
Mayor Owen Torgerson asked if the company has ever launched a project in B.C., or worked with BCHydro. Scott and Blair said they have not.
“I would highly recommend you look at [Hydro’s] interconnection study procedures on what it means to connect to their grid,” Torgerson said. “I would also recommend looking at their standard offer program, which is their form of PPA… and have a serious look at what they require in order to attach to their grid.”
Scott said the company would look into the standard offer program. Torgerson said the Village would not be able to assist in negotiating with BC Hydro.
“We can advocate for a partnership, we can do a lot of things, but we certainly do not have the capacity to assist with a Power Purchase Agreement,” Torgerson said.
In her interview with The Goat on Monday, December 2nd, Scott said the company had not yet looked into a standard offer program with BC Hydro, but it was on her to-do list for the upcoming week.
“If the power source is done right, we won’t really need to tap into BC Hydro,” Scott added. “We won’t need to tap into the grid, but it will give the town of Valemount the option to sell [energy] back to the grid.”
She said Ventori hopes to establish itself in small, mountainous communities like Valemount to provide energy and revenue to towns that may be struggling with rising costs of living.
“I heard the skepticism in the Council’s voice when we were talking about this,” she said. “I think we need to clarify is that the idea here is to help communities understand that they can be their own utility. That’s the goal: we want to empower towns like Valemount to understand they can be their own utility.”
