Atlantic premiers are calling this week’s meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney a positive shift toward collaborative project development, while highlighting federal support for a national energy corridor at the top of their wishlist.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt told reporters the energy corridor project would contribute to “New Brunswick and to Canada being an energy superpower.” It would interconnect the Atlantic provinces’ grids, and then tie them into hydro in Quebec, which would allow for battery storage as well as access to energy markets in New England. The project, which is far from the first time the provinces have discussed a mega-energy connection project, has an initial price tag of $8 billion.
The Atlantic Loop, a very similar proposal, was stalled multiple times under former prime minister Justin Trudeau. In April 2023, the federal government cut Newfoundland and Labrador out of the project, and then in October 2023, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick said they were backing away from the East Coast megaproject previously touted as the pathway for the provinces to get off fossil fuels. Instead, they are focused on local renewable energy and an intertie between the two provinces, as supported by the federal government.
Speaking to CBC’s Power & Politics, Holt said the newly proposed energy corridor is “very similar” to the Atlantic Loop, but will have slightly different connection points. She described the mood in the meeting with Carney as “really good,” while Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston noted, “We couldn't have this discussion before, and that’s why I’m so excited.”
The project proposal is supported by Nova Scotia Official Opposition Leader Claudia Chender of the NDP, who in a written statement to Canada’s National Observer, said “the lack of inter-provincial connections is holding back inter-provincial trade in electricity and undermining Nova Scotia’s ability to develop a clean, stable, affordable energy mix, and prepare for future opportunities.”
Final details of the requests from premiers across the country are expected to be revealed in coming weeks, but Carney said things will move fast. While some proposed projects will not move forward because they don’t meet the criteria of a “nation-building project,” others will receive the resources needed to get the projects off the ground, “to get the country building.”
Power generation was also part of the conversation around the energy corridor, with Houston touting the potential of offshore wind in Nova Scotia and the need for support for infrastructure, such as subsea cables. He told Power & Politics that previously, the province hadn’t seen “a path to realizing” its offshore wind potential “because there was no path to market” — which would change if the federal government backs the proposed energy corridor.
Speaking for New Brunswick, Holt highlighted multiple forms of energy generation that could be expanded. During a press conference, she said nuclear, wind, biomass and hydrogen were all on the table. She also singled out extension of the Trans Québec and Maritimes natural gas pipeline, which currently transports natural gas to Quebec City. She said it could be extended to the Belledune Generating Station, which is currently coal-fired, and then connect to Fredericton.
New Brunswick Green Party leader David Coon is glad to see a version of the Atlantic Loop back on the table, but said the project and any power generation components should focus solely on renewable energy. The benefit of a regional, and eventually national, power grid is that renewable sources of energy can be shared across the country and stored, Coon said.
“We certainly don't need to keep going down the nuclear rabbit holes — too expensive for us — and if it’s [small modular nuclear reactors], the contribution to nuclear proliferation could be significant if it was an export industry, as the former government imagined it to be,” Coon said in a phone interview.
“As far as the gas pipeline goes, we need to be getting away from fossil fuels, not deepening our dependence. This would delay what we need to do in terms of gaseous fuels, and that's build a domestic industry for producing both hydrogen and biogas.”
He pointed to recent wind power purchase agreements signed by Crown corporation NB Power as an example of the direction the province should be heading, rather than expanding existing nuclear infrastructure, which has experienced costly issues with reliability over the past decade.
Another fossil fuel project pushed at the first ministers' conference in Saskatoon was Bay du Nord. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier John Hogan told CBC that the initiative – which would be Canada’s first deepwater oil project, 500 kilometres offshore – still hasn’t been sanctioned, despite approval from the federal government in 2022. Last year, project owner Equinor said it was prioritizing improved economics for Bay du Nord after announcing the project would be on hold for three years in May 2023, partly due to cost increases.
Hogan said Energy NL has brought forward the idea of bringing back the Atlantic tax credit for oil and gas projects, and he hopes the federal government “can help us move that forward.” While the province is moving forward on offshore wind development, it also has a lofty goal of doubling offshore oil production by the end of the decade.
In a statement, the Newfoundland government said Hogan also discussed the need for support for hydro in the province, specifically for the proposed Gull Island hydroelectric project and expansion of Churchill Falls. He also marked northern critical minerals infrastructure, defence and security, and transportation and communications capacity as priorities alongside energy.
While Carney is also pushing for more fossil fuel infrastructure following the meeting, multiple expert bodies dispute the idea that natural gas and “decarbonized” oil fit into a net-zero future. The International Energy Agency stresses that no new fossil fuel projects are needed for the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while a 2020 International Institute for Sustainable Development analysis also found that after 2030, global demand for oil will start to sharply decline, and concluded that Canada needs a plan to avoid these big upfront investments becoming stranded assets.
For Prince Edward Island, improving access to energy imports is needed as the province is getting “perilously close” to not being able to meet peak demand, said Peter Bevan-Baker, energy critic for the Green Party caucus. Currently, the province imports about 75 per cent of its power from neighbouring New Brunswick.
While there is renewable power generation on the Island, public utility Maritime Electric isn’t showing the required ambition to expand power generation and grid capacity, said Bevan-Baker.
PEI Premier Rob Lantz suggested other projects at the meeting, including development of a shipping port, but said the energy corridor was the most vital proposal brought forward.
Comments
Excellent article. The potential for wind energy and mass battery storage in the Maritimes is enormous. It could deliver a knock out punch to all fossil fuels there. Quebec is also very well positioned with its cheap hydro power to boost electrification through its entire economy. Quebec could consider this a "national" priority, then encourage the rest of Canada to expand and connect all provincial and territorial grids together across the land. Invite decentralized power generation suppliers (from small scale residential rooftop solar to scaled up commercial renewable power projects) to join in through net metering and you've got a true nation building project.
Yes this is thrilling, as an Atlantic Canadian. Unfortunately none of the local press I ve seen, including CBC, has reported on it yet. Thank you, NO. Wish I could gift article this.
OOPs, seems I can! Thank you, and hopefully a new subscriber