Halifax – From our homes to our businesses to our workplaces, electricity powers our lives and our economy. Building a clean, reliable and affordable electricity grid is a crucial economic and environmental pursuit. The private sector is increasingly prioritizing access to clean electricity to stay competitive and seize new economic opportunities, including in the emerging and growing industries of hydrogen and critical minerals. The economy is also rapidly electrifying as consumers adopt electric heat pumps and purchase electric vehicles and as industry transitions to clean power on the path to net zero.
The Government of Canada is supporting clean electricity projects that partner with Indigenous groups to provide reliable and affordable energy, and create good jobs while advancing Canada’s climate goals. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced investments totalling over $192 million for six clean electricity projects in Nova Scotia through Natural Resources Canada’s Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program (SREPs) and Electricity Predevelopment Program that will help drive down energy bills across the province. This includes:
- $117.6 million to Nova Scotia Power Inc. for the installation of three 50-megawatt (MW) / 200-megawatt hour (MWh) battery energy storage systems in Bridgewater, Spider Lake and White Rock, Nova Scotia, as well as other grid modernization upgrades, to support the replacement of coal with wind generation across the province. This includes funding from the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program as well as Electricity Predevelopment Program, which specifically supports predevelopment activities such as site investigation work, grid integration planning and stakeholder engagement. This funding builds on previous funding announced by the Canada Infrastructure Bank in February 2024.
- $25 million to Benjamin Mill Wind Limited Partnership to deploy a 33.6-MW wind energy project near Windsor, Nova Scotia, built in partnership with Natural Forces Developments and Wskijnu’k Mtmo’taqnuow Agency (WMA), the corporate body wholly owned by the 13 Mi’kmaq bands in Nova Scotia.
- $25 million to Higgins Mountain Wind Farm Limited Partnership to deploy a 100-MW wind energy project on Higgins Mountain, Nova Scotia, built in partnership with Elemental Energy Renewables Inc., Sipekne’katik First Nation and Stevens Wind.
- $25 million to Wedgeport Wind Farm Limited Partnership to deploy an 84-MW wind energy project in the municipality of the District of Argyle, Nova Scotia, built in partnership with Elemental Energy Renewables Inc. and Sipekne’katik First Nation and Stevens Wind.
These investments support federal and provincial commitments to meet emerging energy needs and the transition to net-zero electricity emissions, while demonstrating the Government of Canada’s commitment to supporting clean energy technologies in partnership with Indigenous groups that create good jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.
Today’s announcement also builds on collaboration taking place through the Canada-Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table (Regional Table), which today released The Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net Zero (Collaboration Framework). The Collaboration Framework identifies six areas of economic opportunity to pursue in the province’s net-zero future, including clean electricity. The other five areas of opportunity are: critical minerals, hydrogen, marine renewables, carbon management and the forest bioeconomy.
This collaboration flows from the Joint Policy Statement on Developing and Transmitting Clean, Reliable and Affordable Power in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which was signed by the two provinces and the federal government in October 2023. The Policy Statement commits the parties to working actively together to ensure progress to electricity systems that will be affordable, reliable and clean and will meet the requirements of the forthcoming Clean Electricity Regulation.
This federal funding will increase the supply of reliable and affordable clean power while also expanding grid capacity to save and store energy for future use. Investments such as these will create good local jobs across the electricity value chain — from installation and maintenance to operation and end-use planning. They will also harness the enormous economic opportunity clean energy presents for Atlantic Canada for now and for generations to come.