Coal has been an important part of our history here in Nova Scotia, but we know it can’t be part of our long-term future. As part of our path to 2030, we’re removing coal from our energy mix, and transitioning to renewable energy.

A critical part of this transition is ensuring that we can continue to meet demand and deliver reliable electricity to our customers, every day. This will take a mix of solutions, one of which is on the conversion of two of our coal units to natural gas, while ensuring we’re planning for the future and the potentially eventual use of hydrogen for these units.

Natural gas is a fast-acting source of energy, meaning it can be activated quickly as a reliable back-up. The potential for hydrogen is incredible--not just for utilities, but many other applications, including buildings and transportation. Hydrogen can be produced from diverse local resources with the potential for near-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

We are committed to continuing to work toward the 2030 renewable energy goals. This is a huge undertaking, and it has to be done in a way that manages the cost impacts to customers.

There’s a lot of important work ahead, and we know it will take all of us—government, stakeholders and customers—working together to achieve these goals. We are committed to doing that and are having productive conversations with government and key stakeholders.

On average, a battery site is typically 3 acres. Battery containers are long rectangular structures with a low profile, which closely resemble the shape of a shipping container. The project team is still finalizing details about the total size, MW and number of structures/containers that will be included in each site.

Because of the small footprint of our three proposed battery sites, an environmental assessment is not needed. Our environmental team is completing reviews of the potential project locations to identify and mitigate any environmental considerations. This includes the completion of Archaeological Resource Impact Assessment on all sites, to identify potential Mi’kmaw archaeology at or near the project sites.

Safety is our first priority in project design, construction and operation of future grid-scale battery facilities.

We will ensure all aspects of the design and construction meet the highest safety standards, as well as meet or exceed industry practice.

Fire prevention is another component of the design of battery facilities. We’re engaging subject matter experts in the review and evaluation of fire suppression system design. We also plan to engage with all local fire departments regarding the three proposed sites.

There are three potential communities chosen as future battery sites:

• Bridgewater, Queens County
• Waterville, Kings County
• Spider Lake, HRM

These sites have been chosen because they:

• were identified as part of the IRP process as ideal locations in the province to balance the grid and support the reliable supply of energy to customers across the province;
• are adjacent to 138 kV transmission lines, necessary to transport electricity from nearby renewable sources; and
• are close to nearby substations, needed to convert and distribute electricity to customers in surrounding communities and across the grid.

The electricity distributed to our homes produces an electromagnetic field which the Government of Canada considers extremely low. In your home, the electric fields from transformer boxes and power lines are often weaker than the fields from household appliances. For more information, visit Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) - Canada.ca.

Solar is a part of Nova Scotia's future. We launched our utility’s first community solar garden in Amherst. It produces about 2700 MWh of electricity a year – enough to power about 240 homes. This pilot project is providing us a better understanding of the benefits for both customers and the grid to help form future decisions. You can learn more about this at: nspower.ca/communitysolar.

Delivering electricity that’s clean, reliable and affordable for our customers is our priority.

You can fill out this form and let us know how you would like to be engaged.

You can also contact us at cleanenergyfuture.nspower.ca

The transition to cleaner energy future will take all of us Nova Scotians working together to do the right thing for our communities and for generations to come. 

Having our customers, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders involved enables them to continue informing our planning and approaches.

These goals are less than seven short years away, and there is a lot of work to do. It won’t be easy.

Provincial legislation still requires us to reach 80% renewable energy by 2030, and federal policy requires the closure of coal plants by 2030, and we’re committed to reaching these goals.

We’re continuing to have discussions with both the federal and provincial governments, and other stakeholders, on next steps and how to move forward to achieve these goals together.