Nova Scotia clean energy project gets $192M in federal funds
Six clean electrical energy projects in Nova Scotia are receiving more than $192 million in federal funding as the province pushes to get off coal by 2030.
Federal Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the investment on Tuesday at the Halifax headquarters of Nova Scotia Power, the province's private electric utility.
Wilkinson said $117.6 million will fund three 50-megawatt battery storage systems to be operated by the utility in Bridgewater, N.S., at Spider Lake near Waverley, N.S., and in White Rock, N.S. The funding builds on the $138.2-million loan announced for the battery storage projects by the Canada Infrastructure Bank in February, he added.
Last October, the federal government approved plans by Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to phase out coal by 2030. All three governments, Wilkinson said Tuesday, agree that decarbonizing is a “foundational economic and environmental goal.”
“The private sector is increasingly prioritizing access to clean electricity to underpin economic opportunities
and economic competitiveness and to seize future growth opportunities,” Wilkinson told reporters.
As part of Tuesday's announcement, he said three wind farm projects will receive $25 million each from Ottawa's $4.5-billion Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program. That money will help develop the 33.6-megawatt Benjamin Mill project near Windsor, N.S., the 100-megawatt Higgins Mountain, N.S., project and the 84-megawatt Wedgeport wind farm in the District of Argyle.
Mark Sidebottom, chief clean energy officer for Nova Scotia Power, said the federal support is welcome, as the province has also set a goal of getting 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.