Clean Energy

We know wind, solar and battery storage are all key to increasing our renewable energy sources and will play a big part of our future.  We need to ensure we have a steady energy source here in Nova Scotia for when wind and solar are not available or can’t meet the peak needs of the system.  And we also need to address battery storage and how that will be structured because it will play a critical role in the reliability of the system.

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

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. We are looking at ways to accelerate our transition away from coal – but it must be done in a way that it’s affordable to customers.

We’re exploring innovative, emerging technology, like battery storage. Batteries not only help us store intermittent renewable energy like wind and solar, but they can also help improve reliability by providing back-up power during outages.

We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners, stakeholders, governments and other utilities to continue to accelerate an affordable transition to clean energy.

Today about 30% of our electricity is generated by clean energy sources—primarily wind and hydro. With the help of the Maritime Link, which will deliver clean, renewable, and reliable hydroelectricity from Newfoundland and Labrador later this year, we will reach about 40% renewable energy.

Additional renewable energy imports will have us approaching 60% by 2022. 

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

We have been transitioning to cleaner energy for over 15 years and are exploring ways that we can accelerate this transition — but we know it must be done in a way that’s affordable for customers.

Since 2005 we have cut carbon by 34%.  Over the past decade, we have more than tripled our renewable generation from 9% to 30% of overall electricity. We’ve done this while focusing on affordability for our customers.