Canadian developer Windstream has been awarded C$28m in damages and costs in connection with its 300MW Wolfe Island offshore wind farm in Lake Ontario.
The government of Ontario will have to pay C$25.2m in damages and $2.9m in legal costs, because it treated the developer unfairly and inequitably under NAFTA rules, Windstream said.
Its project was frustrated by the province’s introduction in 2011 of a moratorium for offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes, leading to the filing of a C$475m legal suit for damages a year later.
Windstream signed a C$5.2bn contract for the project with the Ontario Power Authority.
The contract has not been terminated by the government, according to the developer.
“Windstream responded to the Ontario government’s call for renewable power and jobs, and entered into a contract with the Ontario government in good faith in August 2010,” Windstream Energy director David Mars said.
“This award is an appropriate first step at remedying the challenges we have faced,” he said. “We look forward to working with the Government of Ontario to build this project in accordance with the contract.”
Image: sxc
Windstream wins Ontario damages
$28 million awarded in connection with 300MW offshore wind farm
By EBS