Nova Scotia Premier pitches ambitious offshore wind plan

In response to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s bid to make Canada an ‘energy superpower,’ Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has proposed dramatically ramping up the province’s nascent offshore wind industry with mega-projects of up to 40 GW of offshore wind. The news was reported by CBC and others.

In an online video released last week, Premier Houston said he hopes Prime Minister Carney’s Liberal government will support a new megaproject he dubbed ‘Wind West.’

“Nova Scotia is on the edge of a clean energy breakthrough,” said the Premier. “We’ve been handed a golden ticket.... We cannot afford to let this moment pass us by.” Houston’s plan calls for construction of enough offshore windfarms to supply 27% of Canada’s total demand for electricity.

Prime Minister Carney has said projects deemed in the national interest could get fast-track approval. As a spokesperson for Premier Houston noted, “Nova Scotia cannot undertake an offshore wind project of this magnitude on its own. Leveraging this opportunity will require a national-level consolidation of resources and industry development strategy, and significant federal support.”

The Province’s plan calls for private and government funding to construct huge windfarms that would export power across Canada, provide power for data centres and for the production of green hydrogen.

As reported by OWJ, in an important step towards establishing an offshore wind industry in Canada, five wind energy areas (WEAs) have recently been proposed offshore Nova Scotia.

The WEAs proposed by the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada could be used for future offshore wind development. The five areas are: French Bank, Middle Bank, Sable Island Bank, Sydney Bight; and Western/Emerald Bank.