It’s a big announcement for wind energy in the area.
Yesterday afternoon, Cape Breton Canso MP Mike Kelloway was part of an announcement of $224.2 million in loans from Canada Infrastructure Bank to Port Hawkesbury Paper Wind for a large scale wind energy project and to support 13 Mi’kmaw First nations, through WMA, who will have a 10 per cent stake in the project.
A release from CIB, a federal crown corporation, states the Goose Harbour Lake Wind Farm involves the construction and installation of 24 Nordex cold climate turbines with a sustainable electricity generation capacity of 168 megawatts. The project will support Port Hawkesbury Paper, the largest industrial user of electricity in Nova Scotia, and the provincial grid.
Cape Breton-Canso MP Mike Kelloway (Government of Canada Photo)
Kelloway called the project a solid proposal supported by the 13 First nations communities, PHP, local municipalities, and other stakeholders.
Kelloway said Antigonish, Guysborough, Richmond, Inverness, and Victoria counties are fast becoming a potential hub for renewable energy for not just the region but the country.
The release also states the project will create 150 jobs at peak of construction, and up to five permanent jobs during the operations phase and generate economic development for the region. The wind farm is expected to reduce energy production emissions by more than 350,000 tonnes a year, and help the province’s energy transition, moving from coal to renewables. Operations are expected to begin in 2026.