Vermont has struck a three-year deal with the government of Nova Scotia to explore the possibility of bringing wind power to New England through the Green Mountain State.
The memorandum of understanding signed by Gov. Phil Scott and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston calls for their respective governments to collaborate on the development of the potential clean energy source.
Nova Scotia has ambitious plans to develop wind farms off its eastern coast in coming years. It’s planning to issue licenses for 5 gigawatts of power this year, followed by another 10 gigawatts in coming years. Fifteen gigawatts of power is enough to power about 12 million homes.
“It’s a big deal,” said Kerrick Johnson, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service, which advocates for ratepayers in the state. “We need clean, affordable power at scale. We have a shortage of those resources, and Nova Scotia has an incredible resource they are hoping to capitalize on — and they are looking for partners.”
The province sped up its plan in recent years following the Trump administration’s retreat from support of wind projects in the United States, Johnson said. The deal follows a similar one struck between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia in February. The deals are complementary, not competitive, Johnson said.
The province, northeast of Maine, is home to about 1 million people. It could choose to deliver the power generated by the offshore turbines to Massachusetts via an undersea power cable. Or it could opt to send that power into the Canadian grid and route it to New England through Vermont, Johnson noted.
“Given the scope of their vision, you’re going to want more than one route for that to be delivered,” he said.
The state already has a high-voltage connection to the Canadian power grid on the U.S. border at Highgate. The two-way Highgate Converter was commissioned in 1985 and allows Vermont to import 220 megawatts of Hydro-Québec power. The converter is dated, however, and plans are under way to upgrade it at a cost of nearly $1 billion.
Vermont must decide whether to replace the existing converter with a similar one or with equipment that could handle double or even triple the amount of power.
The deal with Nova Scotia suggests that Vermont would be wise to not just replace the converter, which connects and synchronizes the nation’s two power grids, but to build a significantly more robust connection, Johnson said.
That decision is expected next year, with build-out taking several years to complete, he said.
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