AMERICAN INVESTMENT IN EVERWIND TO KICKSTART BUILDOUT OF FIRST 4 WIND FARMS
A company that wants to build some of the province’s largest wind farms and a green hydrogen production facility in Nova Scotia has secured its “most important” capital investment to date.
EverWind announced Tuesday it’s getting $175 million USD, the equivalent of about $240 million CAD, from American asset management company Nuveen, specifically Nuveen’s energy power infrastructure credit fund.
EverWind CEO Trent Vichie said the investment will allow for construction to begin this year on the company’s first phase of wind projects comprising around 100 turbines and at least 650 megawatts of energy capacity.
The sum represents about ten per cent of the total capital cost of the projects, which Vichie said will surpass $2 billion.
“It's the most important part of the capital,” Vichie said of the money from Nuveen.
Raising the rest, he said in an interview, “is relatively straightforward.”
The wind projects, each expected to take two years to build, are:
- Windy Ridge in Colchester County, with up to 49 turbines and up to 376 megawatts.
- Kmtnuk, also in Colchester County, with up to 16 turbines and up to 128 megawatts.
- Bear Lake, located mostly in Hants County, with up to 15 turbines and up to 89 megawatts.
- Upper Afton in Antigonish County, with up to 28 turbines and up to 176 megawatts.
The first three have received environmental approval from the provincial government and an EverWind spokesperson said an application for Upper Afton is in the process of being registered.
Last fall, the Bear Lake project was denied a development agreement in a close vote by the municipal council in West Hants. EverWind appealed the rejection to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board and the case is still under review.
EverWind’s long-term plan is to use the electricity generated at its wind farms to power the production of hydrogen and subsequently ammonia for export. It plans to build hundreds more turbines in phase 2, and a production and export facility in Point Tupper, N.S.
The projects have been in the works since 2022 and have faced pushback from people who think wind power generated in Nova Scotia should meet the needs of local energy users first before turning to export.
Vichie argued that even if EverWind’s priority is powering operations at Point Tupper, the company’s wind farms will help the local grid.
Brendan Chard, EverWind’s vice president of power supply, said there are two main categories of grid benefits.
EverWind will need to use the Nova Scotia Power grid to move its electricity; in exchange, Chard said the company will pay the utility about $10 million a year. He said other “natural benefits” of being connected to the grid have an estimated value of about $20 million.
Electrolysers in the hydrogen plant will give the power grid better voltage stability, he said. And, he added, during times of peak demand the energy operator can tell EverWind to lower its consumption so that its wind farms can support local energy needs.
Membertou First Nation is a majority owner of the four wind projects, and Chief Terry Paul said in a news release the band’s participation “is about creating enduring economic opportunity while ensuring projects are developed with care, accountability, and respect for Mi’kma’ki.”
2026-03-03T10:06:53Z