Wind power for electricity needs backups when the wind is weak
Posted July 24, 2026
Nova Scotia’s electricity supply is in transition from coal to wind. There are many possible ways to make that happen. Historically the province has relied on Nova Scotia Power for capital projects.
NSPI’s strength is in developing electric-based power from fuel. What is needed now are companies skilled in developing and managing large wind power arrays.
Also needed are effective ways to deliver power into the provincial grid. This is overseen by the Independent Energy System Operator (IESO) appointed by the province.
Ramping up has begun as shown in the following July 5th press release:
“Nova Scotia’s public housing will soon be powered by clean, renewable electricity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and stabilizing energy costs.
A new agreement with Renewall Energy Inc. will see the company’s Mersey River Wind Project in Queens County supplying renewable electricity to the Province’s public housing, starting in 2027.
Under the 10-year agreement, the provincial agency agrees to having electricity delivered to public housing by Renewall.”
A reader might be confused by the release. It suggests that each of the buildings owned and operated all over the province by the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency would be receiving its electricity directly from the Queens County wind farm.
They are not. It would require enormous amounts of redundant wiring to make that work.
The Mersey River Wind Project’s power is fed into the provincial grid. The amount of that power will be equal to what is provided to Nova Scotia Housing buildings around the province.
Renewall is a wholesaler responsible for working with the grid to facilitate transmission of the Mersey River wind-powered electricity. It can be combined with the other sources feeding into the province-wide grid.
The estimated cost of the Project is $500 million, of which the Canada Infrastructure Bank is providing a $206 million loan.
The result is to reduce the amount of carbon fuel used to generate electricity. Renewall estimates that replacing carbon with wind will reduce prices to customers.
Like any wholesaler, they have a markup for profit. In addition, they need to cover the cost of integrating the wind-powered electricity into the grid.
Interested individual electricity customers can be part of the program if the needed integration has already been done by a Renewals to Retail wholesaler.
So far, Renewall is the only company doing this. We should hope that other wind power operators will get into the business.
For example Everwind has multiple successful projects in Guysborough and elsewhere. These are focused on converting the wind energy into green hydrogen and ammonia.
Everwind advises that they are not planning to participate in the Renewables to Retail program. When choosing which future wind projects to approve, the province should favour Renewables to Retail projects.
For wind power to be a viable source of electricity, there must be quickly available alternative resources when the wind is not blowing.
Coal is being phased out, but NSPI is seeking to convert some of the carbon plants to oil or gas. Burning natural gas emits roughly 50% to 60% less carbon dioxide than burning coal for the same amount of energy output.
Gas-fuelled power plants can be started up very quickly.
IESO has wisely contracted 100 megawatts of power from a recently approved gas-fuelled project just across the border in New Brunswick.
That, plus sources in Nova Scotia, and imports from other provinces will be essential to the growth of wind power as the predominant provincial source of electricity.
Many environmentalists are frustrated with approvals of new gas burning plans, but the dispatchable power they can provide is a necessity to enable the benefits of wind power.
The big advantage of the Renewable to Retail program is that it does not require capital funding from the province or NSPI. Long-term commitments of credible buyers make it possible for the developer to borrow at acceptable interest rates.
Interested individual electricity customers can be part of the program. This works because wind energy is less expensive than fuel energy, so it reduces the cost if low wind integration costs are included in the price.
Possible large buyers could be Nova Scotia’s hospitals or the Department of Defence bases in Nova Scotia. If companies like Irving or Sobeys sign on, the program will validated for others.
The level of carbon emissions from wind plus gas-fuelled backups when needed will be a small fraction of what our coal plants emit today.
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