What the Major Projects Office Should Focus on to Advance Offshore Wind

Wind West appearing on the provincial Major Projects list signals a shift: The potential to unlock fast-track permitting, and open doors to financing support.

If the Major Projects Office wants offshore wind to move forward with real momentum, here is where I would focus:

+ 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠: Enable coordinated transmission planning and clear interconnection rules across provincial boundaries

+ 𝙍𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙮: Co-create stable regulatory frameworks with the provinces that take into account their unique resource availability so developers can invest with confidence (by this I mean, rethink the Clean Electricity Regulations)

+ 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮, 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨: Ensure funding and shared ownership pathways

+ 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚: Invest in the upgrades needed at ports to handle large turbine components, as flagged in the Net Zero Atlantic port readiness report

+ 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨: Strategically use government guarantees to de-risk projects for investors

+ 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣: Explore data centre development as an alternative or complementary pathway to exporting electricity, where it can strengthen project economics

+ 𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮: Figure out how offshore wind energy can be firmed, where that capacity will come from and how much it will cost