Nova Scotia government says wind farms key to meeting 80 per cent renewables goal

CITYnews halifax / By Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government says a program to bring wind-generated electricity to 11 large customers is keeping the province on track to meet its goal of producing 80 per cent of its electricity with renewables by 2030.

The province announced its latest environmental approval Monday for 20 turbines in the Melvin Lake wind farm, about 30 kilometres northwest of Halifax.

The province says this approval — along with five other wind projects planned under the “Green choice” program it launched in 2023 — will together yield “the single-largest greenhouse gas reduction in the province’s history.”

In a news release, the department predicts the six projects will generate a combined 2,000 gigawatt hours of electricity per year by the end of 2028, enough to power over 300,000 homes.

“We’re putting wind to work as a made-in-Nova Scotia solution for clean electricity,” said Trevor Boudreau, the minister of energy, adding the projects are expected to help the province have 78 per cent of its electricity coming from renewable sources by 2028.

Eleven large-scale electricity customers are participating in the Green Choice program, including public institutions and some large industrial and commercial businesses, paying Nova Scotia Power directly for the power. The public customers include government offices, hospitals, schools and universities.

The province says the price paid by Nova Scotia Power for electricity from the wind farms will be substantially lower that what it pays for coal-generated power.

A news release says each wind farm in the Green Choice program is co-owned by a private developer and one or more Mi’kmaq communities.

Melvin Lake, developed by ABO Energy Canada, is the second Green Choice project and the 14th onshore wind energy project to receive environmental approval since 2021. ABO Energy Canada received approval for its first Green Choice project, Rhodena wind project in Cape Breton, on Jan. 6.

The province says the wind farms chosen are being developed by international firms ABO Energy, RES and SWEB, and that it is estimated 700 construction jobs will result along with $1.2 billion in capital investment, half of which will be spent in Nova Scotia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2025.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press