Natural Resources dept. says it’s ‘focused on affordability’ and greenhouse gas targets
The Atlantic Loop is toast (for now) and we’re betting hard on wind power.
On Wednesday, Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton and clean energy director David Miller laid out their plan to get Nova Scotia off coal by 2030.
“The plan is really focused on affordability,” said Miller.
“We’re focused on the lowest capital cost investments to achieve our 2030 targets and still deliver those massive GHG reductions that are necessary.”
Those targets are to be off coal and generating 80 per cent of our electricity from renewables by 2030.
Wednesday’s announcement was the closest thing to a plan to meet those targets we’ve yet seen.
For some, it didn’t have enough detail.
“Is (the plan) sound? It’s hard to tell,” said Larry Hughes, a Dalhousie University professor and observer of this province’s electrical sector.
“It’s just a long list of generalities.”
But it is a step further from the Hail-Mary plan to tie our grid to Quebec’s that was being pitched by the federal government.
Ballooning loop costs
From an estimated cost of $2.95 billion in 2020, the cost of the project dubbed the Atlantic Loop has grown to $9 billion today.
Days before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Nova Scotia to give a speech at St. Francis Xavier University this spring, federal staffers leaked to the Canadian Press that Nova Scotia was refusing a $4.5-billion offer from the feds to help pay for the Loop. Premier Tim Houston was quick to clarify the feds were offering a loan, not a grant, to be repaid with interest by ratepayers over 50 years on top of whatever Quebec charged for hydro power.
It turned out that Quebec Hydro won’t even have the renewable energy to sell.
“We’re still at a relatively early-stage cost estimate, so that nine billion dollars could significantly increase,” said Miller.
“That risk for more cost escalation would fall on rate payers in nova scotia. That level of risk is unacceptable. Quebec has also confirmed since 2020 that they are in a supply challenge as well. Both from an energy and capacity resource perspective, they will be in a deficiency without new contracts by 2026-27.”
What follows is Nova Scotia’s plan.
New generation
Wind: Nova Scotia will add 1,000 megawatt hours of onshore wind generation by 2030.
That would bring wind energy production from its current 20 per cent of total electricity production to more than 50 per cent in 2030. A procurement of 350 megawatts worth of new wind generation will be announced this fall, another in 2025 and another in 2027.
Solar: Add 300 megawatts worth of large-scale solar projects by 2030. A community solar program and commercial net-metering program will be announced this fall and are expected to add additional generating capacity.
Batteries: Natural Resources and Renewables is evaluating 300 megawatts of “innovating early battery deployment projects” that would allow power to be fed back into the grid when there’s little wind or sun. There is also the promise of programs to allow electric vehicle owners to benefit from tying their batteries to the grid, charging during off-peak hours and potentially feeding electricity back in during times of need.
Fast acting: design work is being done on 300 megawatts of generating capacity that can be fired up quickly when renewables are falling short. The new units would burn biofuels or green hydrogen.
Grid tie-in
The province is pitching a new transmission line capable of allowing 500 megawatts of power to go back or forth between the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick grids. This $1.4-billion line would run from Onslow to Salisbury, outside Moncton.
It could in the future be expanded to the nuclear power plant at Point Lepreau, where it would connect with existing infrastructure tied into the New England states.
Rushton and representatives from New Brunswick will be meeting with their federal counterparts next week asking for federal dollars for this tie-in.
At least three of our existing coal/oil generating plants with a total capacity of some 450 megawatts would be kept available for emergency use when load exceeded the ability of renewables production and energy imports. These plants would run on oil or natural gas.
