The winning bids included two phases of the South Canoe Wind Project totalling 102MW. The project, majority owned by a partnership that includes Nova Scotia-based companies Oxford Frozen Foods and Minas Basin Pulp & Paper, has the province’s monopoly utility as an investor. Nova Scotia Power will own 49% of the project, which will start construction next year.
The utility also holds an undisclosed minority stake in the third winning project. The 13.8MW Sable Wind Project is led by the Municipality of the District of Guysborough.
The average purchase price was in the mid-C$70/MWh range, says the province’s Department of Energy, lower than the last call for wind energy bids in 2007. The three projects are scheduled to be in service by January 2015.
The call attracted 19 bids offering about eight times the 300/GWh procurement target.
