Renewable energy megaproject on Eastern Shore prepares for environmental assessment

A proposed jet fuel megaproject on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore is inching forward, with the proponents saying they plan to submit for environmental assessment before the fall.

The proposal is to produce sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, a lower-emission alternative to conventional jet fuel, and ship it by boat to distributors and airlines.

The project would include two components in Guysborough County — a joint wind and solar farm in St. Mary's and a plant in the community of Goldboro. The plant would use the wind and solar energy, as well as wood chips, to power hydrogen production. The hydrogen, in turn, would power the production of SAF.

Michael Galvin has been working on the idea for four years and said he's eager to make the project's first submission to the province. He expects the application for environmental assessment for the Goldboro plant will be made in early September. 

"It's really significant and it's also really significant for our investors to see that we have reached this milestone," he said in an interview.

The project began with Irish firm Simply Blue Group, but changed hands this year. Galvin was chief operating officer at Simply Blue and moved, along with the project, to Octopus Energy Generation, which is now backing the project. 

A local entity, Nova Sustainable Fuels, was created to manage the project.

Interest in sustainable aviation fuel has been growing in recent years, particularly in Europe where some governments have set mandates and created subsidies for its use. Galvin said that means the list of proposed SAF projects — and competitors — got very long. But he said that's begun to change.

"A lot of the hype has started to die down. And now you're seeing the really serious players and really serious investors have now stepped forward, and I think you're seeing the strongest projects and the most likely projects to run to completion."

Galvin said completion for his project is still at least five years away, assuming it receives all the necessary approvals and raises enough capital. He wouldn't put an exact number on it, but said the cost will be in the billions of dollars.

"It's costing more than I wish it was going to cost. These are big numbers and big infrastructure projects," he said.

This is not the only major industrial project proposed for Guysborough County. Other companies are eyeing the remote eastern corner of mainland Nova Scotia for wind farms to power hydrogen production, a commercial spaceport and a gold mine.

Paul Long, warden of the District of the Municipality of Guysborough, said the local government is hungry for economic development.

"We're a small, small municipality — there's only 4,500 people or so in the municipality," Long said in an interview.

"So we can't rely just on the tax base, the residential tax base, to do the things we want to do and provide the services for our residents."

Some past proposals for big industrial projects in the area have flopped, such as the LNG export facility that was abandoned two years ago. The company behind it sold its land and building permits to Simply Blue. 

Long said past failures have left some residents "leery," but he thinks generally people are open to new proposals. Nova Sustainable Fuels is hosting a community event this week to court community buy-in. Long said they already have council's support.

He believes there's a unique window open now for new projects to get underway. He pointed to Premier Tim Houston's push for more resource development, and Prime Minister Mark Carney's focus on major projects.

"Everything seems to be falling in line," said Long.

It will be years before Galvin is ready to say whether everything has, in fact, fallen in line. He said he expects a final investment decision in 2027. He said groundbreaking would happen no sooner than 2028, which could lead to an operational plant in late 2030 or 2031.