Donald Trump’s disdain for wind energy could create windfall for Nova Scotia: experts

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HALIFAX — U.S. President Donald Trump’s opposition to renewable energy could create a “golden opportunity” for Nova Scotia’s fledgling offshore wind energy industry, a leading international consulting firm says.

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Aegir Insights, based in Denmark, recently presented a webinar that examined Premier Tim Houston’s 10-year plan to license enough offshore turbines to produce 40 gigawatts of electricity. Even though the province requires only 2.4 GW, Houston’s Wind West plan calls for selling excess power to the rest of Canada and, potentially, the United States.

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Experts say such a project would require construction of about 4,000 offshore turbines that would generate as much electricity as China’s offshore turbines produced last year.

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Scott Urquhart, co-founder and CEO of Aegir Insights, said Wind West has grabbed the attention of the global offshore wind industry.

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“The vision is to get Nova Scotia on the radar of big international investors,” Urquhart said Tuesday in an interview from Copenhagen. “If the big players saw only a one gigawatt ambition, they won’t show up.”

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During last week’s webinar, which attracted about 100 project developers, investors and government officials, Urquhart described Wind West as “grand and ambitious,” but said it is underpinned by “rational market fundamentals and economics.”

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Founded in 2020, Aegir Insights describes itself as an intelligence provider that offers analytics and models for those investing in the offshore wind sector. Its database of projects spans 60 markets. Though he is based in Copenhagen, Urquhart has taken a keen interest in Wind West, having grown up in Cape Breton.

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He told the webinar that the offshore wind industry has been hurt by rising costs and supply chain issues in recent years, but he said the industry appears poised for a recovery as interest rates fall and supply chain competition heats up.

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Signe Sorensen, Aegir’s regional lead in the Americas, said these encouraging trends have been overshadowed in the United States by Trump’s decision to place a hold on offshore projects that have already received permits.

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“Even as the global sector looks to be on the road to recovery, the U.S. is on a completely different path,” Sorensen told the webinar. “And that matters a lot to Canada. One state’s challenge could be another state’s opportunity.”

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In January, Trump announced he would halt leasing for wind projects while fast-tracking plans for more oil and gas production. That move has led to layoffs and stalled construction of wind turbines, which account for 10 per cent of U.S. electricity production — the largest source of renewable energy.

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Earlier this month, Trump doubled down on his opposition to wind power.

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“The windmills are killing our country,” he said on June 12. “The fields are littered with them — junk …. It’s the greatest scam in history, the most expensive energy you can buy.”