Nova Scotia shortlists 5 areas for offshore wind farms

Nova Scotia and Ottawa have narrowed the search for areas where offshore wind farms could be built.

In a news release Friday, Nova Scotia's Energy Department said it has picked five sites:

• French Bank.
• Middle Bank.
• Sable Island Bank.
• Sydney Bight.
• Western/Emerald Bank.

All told, the areas cover more than 19,000 square kilometres of open water, mostly off the Eastern Shore. One area, Sydney Bight, is just off Cape Breton. It overlaps with both ferry routes to Newfoundland.

The areas will not be formally designated until this summer. The province is inviting feedback in the meantime.

It has dedicated a new webpage to public engagement on the topic. The deadline for submissions is April 14. 

The news release from the province says that when the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator opens bids for offshore licences later this year, it will identify specific parcels within the five selected areas that will be open for development.

The provincial and federal governments are jointly in charge of offshore waters and have been working toward a regulated offshore wind industry around Nova Scotia for several years.

They're looking to issue licences for five gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, which is more than Nova Scotia's total electricity-generating capacity. The province has hopes of becoming a wind-energy exporter.

Deciding where turbines can go is a critical step that could influence developers' interest in Nova Scotia and offshore wind's impact on local fisheries.

Closer to shore 

The five proposed areas were all recommended by a committee that was appointed by the province and Ottawa to assess Nova Scotia's offshore wind potential. But some of the areas have been modified — three made bigger and one pared back.

French Bank and Sydney Bight were both brought closer to shore.

As proposed, they would both break into the 25-kilometre coastal buffer that was recommended. French Bank would come within about 15 kilometres of shore and Sydney Bight would come within less than 10 kilometres from shore.

French Bank and Western/Emerald Bank are proposed for floating turbines, while the other three are proposed for fixed and floating turbines.

The committee recommended a total of eight areas, but three were left out of the province's new proposal.

The five that were selected were recommended for immediate consideration, while the three that were dropped were all recommended for further review.

According to a discussion paper released by the province on Friday, the three that were dropped could be revisited after 2030.