Calgary Herald B.C. is said to have much to gain from harnessing wind energy,

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British Columbia could quickly gain thousands of new jobs for employment-starved communities if it got serious about developing a wind-energy industry in the province, says a consultant's report obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

The report by Helimax Energy Inc. says a lack of tax measures and financial incentives are stopping the well-established global industry from emerging in B.C.

The report says B.C. Hydro's 13,000-megawatt grid could be expanded by 1,200 megawatts within 10 years if the government encouraged projects in three key areas -- Port Hardy, Port Alice and Prince Rupert.

It says the key areas could provide enough electricity to meet the average annual consumption of 100,000 homes, attract $1 billion worth of investment and create 8,000 job-years of employment, including construction.

It would also deliver $5 million in royalties to provincial coffers, based on royalties collected from wind energy in the United States.

Helimax is a Montreal-based international consultant with more than 100 energy projects and studies to its credit, including a 100-megawatt project for Quebec's burgeoning green energy sector.

The 23-page report, to be made public today, was commissioned by Greenpeace Canada, Tides Canada and Living Oceans Society. The groups commissioned the report to suggest a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to the B.C. government's pursuit of offshore gas and oil exploration.

Helimax says the theoretical wind potential for the key areas could reach 4,800 megawatts, but says 1,200 megawatts could be realized by 2011 without expanding existing infrastructure, including road access and electrical grids.

It adds that environmental benefits would include a greenhouse-gas reduction

of 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the 25-year life of a wind turbine compared to a combined cycle (low emission) gas-fired plant.

Worldwide wind-energy capacity reached 25,000 megawatts in 2001 and Helimax report author Richard Legault estimates it will reach 80,000 megawatts by 2006 -- and that U.S. capacity alone will reach 23,000 megawatts by 2011.

But the report says the current price paid by B.C. Hydro for private-sector electricity sales on to the province's electrical grid

is too low to attract the industry, and that the price gap will continue even as the province expands into gas-fired generation technology.

It adds that current federal incentives are too limited in scope to be a viable substitute.

"For wind energy production to be economically viable in British Columbia, additional measures must be put into place to bridge these gaps," says the report.

Greenpeace campaigner Catherine Stewart said the province should include the creation of jobs in small communities and greenhouse gas reductions when it's calculating the value of wind energy and the price it is willing to pay for it.

She added that the report points out that economic opportunities for B.C. could expand to include manufacturing jobs in the sector.

Stewart noted that civic officials in Portland, Ore., are currently in a pitched competition with Longview, Wash. to attract a leading global manufacturer of wind-power turbines to locate in their community.

Vestas Wind Systems would bring with it a manufacturing plant that would employ more than 1,000 people.

Both cities are offering millions of dollars in incentives and property-tax breaks.

B.C. now has 710 mega-watts of wind-energy capacity in development.

ssimpson@pacpress.southam.ca