The biggest wind turbines yet installed in North America are set to soon be turning near the small town of Mulgrave, Nova Scotia. Construction is now underway on the $450 million Goose Harbour Lake development, a project featuring 24 giant seven megawatt (MW) machines supplied by German manufacturer Nordex.
The 168 MW wind power project in eastern Nova Scotia is being co-developed by the UK’s RES and Port Hawkesbury Paper (PHP), whose local pulp and paper mill accounts for up to 25 per cent of the provincial grid's peak demand.
Once power starts flowing to the grid in 2026, the Goose Harbour Lake wind farm will be the largest operating in the Canadian Maritimes. The project will meet roughly 60 per cent of power demand at PHP, a major local employer, while cutting provincial greenhouse gas emissions by more than 350,000 tons a year.
“This project highlights RES's unique capability to provide clean energy solutions to industrial power users, reducing their power rates and carbon exposure,” said RES senior vice president Peter Clibbon.
'Best use of available land'
A RES spokesperson told Canada's National Observer that the Nordex top-of-the-line turbines were chosen “to maximize efficiency, optimize energy output, and make the best use of available land” at the project site.
Most onshore wind farm turbines tend to be models in the two-to-five MW range. The seven MW turbines being built for Goose Harbour Lake are massive, standing some 180 metres tall – higher than any building in Atlantic Canada – and flying 175-metre diameter rotors. Each machine will generate enough power for 2,000 homes.
Arthur Zhang, senior research associate at the Canadian Climate Institute (CCI), a policy think tank, said the use of seven MW turbines reflects the wider global shift toward larger machines.
"The larger turbines can capture more wind and produce more electricity. Therefore, fewer turbines are needed to get the same amount of capacity as smaller ones, lowering overall project costs,” he said.
The new wind farm, which secured a $224 million Canada Infrastructure Bank construction loan in January, is expected to cut Nova Scotia's yearly carbon emissions by 2.4 per cent and boost the province toward its goal of generating 80 per cent of its electricity with renewables by the end of the decade. Nova Scotia currently has 620 MW of wind power in operation.
Bevan Lock, the PHP mill's co-manager said: “This project will generate green energy for the benefit of all Nova Scotians and contribute to reducing both Nova Scotia’s and Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
Through the Wskijinu’k Mtmo’taqnuow Agency, 13 Mi'kmaw First Nations will together hold a 10 per cent equity stake in the Goose Harbour Lake project, which will employ 150 workers full-time during construction and create five permanent jobs once online.
Zhang said he was hopeful that wind power expansion could raise the odds of Canada reaching its climate action targets, both on the provincial and federal level.
'Reasons to be optimistic'
He said there were “definitely reasons to be optimistic” regarding power auctions known as requests for procurement, in Canada. “Wind is key to meeting future electricity needs in an affordable way.
“Nova Scotia, for example, announced six new wind farms this past January. All of them were all procured through the Green Choice program, which enables the purchase of renewable electricity by large-scale electricity consumers,” noted Zhang.
The Goose Harbour Lake wind farm is British developer RES’s first construction project in Nova Scotia, but the company was recently awarded a contract to build a 150 MW project called Eigg Mountain via the province's green choice program.
"The Port Hawkesbury Paper wind project will play a crucial role in reducing the carbon footprint in Nova Scotia... and contribute significantly to the region's economic growth," Jean Habel, senior director for Québec and Atlantic Canada at the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CANREA), an industry advocacy body.
Zhang added: “There's definitely a wider appetite from utilities to work with developers to build renewables based on the results of recent procurements." He cited British Columbia’s recent power procurement, its first in 15 years; Québec's oversubscribed procurement, where some 3,000 MW in bids came in for the 1,500 MW on offer; and Ontario’s recently expanded auction, which will now award 7,500 MW of projects rather than the original 5,000 MW.
Between 2019 and 2024, Canada’s wind power capacity expanded 35 per cent to reach almost 18,500 MW, according to figures from CANREA.
Canada needs to double clean electricity production to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, a feat that would call for some 109,000 MW of wind power on the grid, noted CANREA.
Wind power’s economic case is growing stronger by the year, with a 2023 report published by Clean Energy Canada finding that onshore wind farms could be built for $50 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in Canada versus new gas-fired generation which cost between $150-230 MWh.
Darius Snieckus | Local Journalism Initiative | Canada’s National Observer
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