Offshore Wind Projects in Jointly Managed Waters to be Regulated First

The Province has decided to focus first on building the regulatory framework for offshore wind energy development in areas jointly managed with the federal government before considering waters under solely provincial jurisdiction.

“Offshore wind is an important part of our clean energy plan, and we are working with our federal partners to ensure a clear path for sustainable development of this new sector,” said Tory Rushton, Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables. “We’re pausing any consideration of waters within provincial jurisdiction until the framework for jointly managed offshore areas is in place. The regional assessment that’s ongoing will help inform our decisions for the regulatory framework for both areas, and I encourage Nova Scotians to continue participating and sharing their input. Our decision to focus on jointly managed waters first reflects that we are listening to the feedback through this process.”

In June, the Department released the first module of the Offshore Wind Roadmap, which set Nova Scotia’s vision for offshore wind and outlined the regulatory path for businesses to invest in projects. It also stated that the Province would consider whether to pursue projects in waters under provincial jurisdiction. The second module of the road map will be released in the spring and will reflect the focus on developing one clear regulatory regime for jointly managed waters first in consultation with all interested parties.

Quick Facts:

• Nova Scotia has a goal of offering licences for five gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, with the first call for bids in 2025
• while there are some interested developers, there are no offshore wind projects under development at this time
• the Province, Natural Resources Canada and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada are working together on the regional assessment in jointly managed waters
• the federal and provincial governments are amending their respective legislation to expand the mandate of the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board to include offshore renewable energy

Additional Resources:

Offshore Wind Roadmap: https://novascotia.ca/offshore-wind/docs/offshore-wind-roadmap.pdf

Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Nova Scotia: https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/83514

Natural Resources and Renewables on the X platform (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/NS_DNRR