Four offshore wind energy areas designated off Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia has announced four new offshore wind farms that will generate electricity for the province.

The Nova Scotia government says Canada’s first four offshore wind energy areas have been designated on the province’s offshore.

The federal and provincial governments jointly designated the following four areas, which were announced on Tuesday:

• French Bank
• Middle Bank
• Sable Island Bank
• Sydney Bight

Premier Tim Houston says the commitment is a turning point for the province.

“These steps will help make us an energy superpower. We’re on that path,” said Houston Tuesday. “Wind and wind west are a big part of the plan. We have enough wind energy to power a quarter of Canada’s electricity needs.”

A regional assessment initially identified eight areas with strong potential for offshore wind. After further review, the federal and provincial governments shortlisted five locations as possible offshore wind energy areas.

The government says public feedback on those five proposed areas helped it narrow the list down to four designated sites, and to make the French Bank and Sydney Bight areas slightly smaller.

French Bank is closest to land, located roughly 20 kilometres offshore, while Sydney Bight moved 25 kilometres offshore after receiving feedback from fishers.

“Our consultations have been rigorous,” said Nova Scotia Energy Minister Trevor Boudreau. “We’ve met with fishers, the Mi’kmaq, environmental groups, municipalities, researchers and industry partners.”

The next step is identifying parcels within the designated areas, which will be included in the first call for bids later this year.

“The identification of wind energy areas off the coast of Nova Scotia is a significant step forward towards unlocking our renewable energy potential,” said federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.

“We are moving quickly to deliver on our commitment to advance offshore wind, create clean jobs and support our long-term energy security.”

Nova Scotia’s current peak electricity use is pegged at 2.4 gigawatts. The province hopes to license five gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, which it says will “set the stage for future offshore wind development and position Nova Scotia to become an exporter of clean energy.”

Houston previously said building a transmission line to connect the proposed wind farms with the rest of the country could cost between $5 and $10 billion – something officials hope will be funded by taxpayers and private industry.

The premier said Tuesday tapping into the resource would put Nova Scotia on the international stage.

“It just so happens we have the best wind resource in the world on the eastern seaboard ... this is a chance for us to take charge of our future, and it is a chance to make Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada more self-sufficient,” he said. “We don’t want to rely on the U.S. for energy.”

After the first round of licences are awarded, the government will revisit four other areas identified in the regional assessment of offshore wind development.

Those areas include the Western/Emerald Bank, which was the other area shortlisted in the spring. The location was dropped due to concerns about fish conservation areas, military use and shipping routes, but the province says it will revisit the area after the first licences are issued.

Some form of windfarm construction is expected to begin around 2033, if the project is successful, though Houston says he’s awaiting more clarity and commitment from Ottawa.

Private companies that wish to build offshore wind projects in Nova Scotia are required to participate in a competitive licensing process managed by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator.

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