Nova Scotia Power says it has not only met, but it has exceeded the renewable energy targets for 2015.
According to Mark Sidebottom, the vice-president of power generation and delivery for the utility, 26.6 per cent of the electricity used by Nova Scotians last year came from renewable resources.
That is above the 25 per cent goal set by provincial legislation in 2010.
“We want to create a cleaner megawatt here in Nova Scotia,” said Sidebottom.
“We’ve heard from our customers we need to make sure we do that in an affordable way but in the same way but we need to make sure as we say clean up the megawatt hour or the energy we sell to our customers.”
Sidebottom says the recent numbers are quite a feat, considering only nine per cent of the province’s electricity was renewable as recently as 2007.
The utility also projects they will exceed the 40 per cent requirement set for 2020, due in large part to the Maritime Link project.
“While we’re bringing on more expensive renewable generation, we’re doing everything else inside the business to stabilize rates,” said Sidebottom. “So we’re working towards no general rate application between now and 2019.”
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Catherine Abreu, the energy coordinator with the Ecology Action Centre called NSP’s numbers “substantial” and agreed they were impressive.
Moving forward, Abreu says she would also like to see more growth in certain areas of renewable energy, such as solar, in order to diversify sources.
“It’s not just about transitioning away from fossil fuels, but transitioning away from a system that relies primarily on a single source to produce the majority of our electricity,” she said.
“We want that diverse system that lends more flexibility and a higher degree of resilience to our electricity system.”
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