Could Nova Scotia become the new Scotland?

MRC’s Executive Director, Elisa Obermann, captured the mood perfectly: «Momentum is building.»

And in a meeting with Norwegian Offshore Wind earlier this autumn, MRC also reported increased interest from European developers and suppliers now eyeing opportunities in the emerging Canadian offshore wind market.

The starting gun has fired

This autumn, Canada opened the pre-qualification stage for its first offshore wind auction in Nova Scotia. The application deadline is in January, marking the beginning of what could become one of the most significant new offshore wind build-outs of the decade.

The government has outlined a clear timeline:

• Autumn 2025: Call for Information (ongoing)
• Winter/Spring 2026: Prequalification (90 days)
• 2026 (Q2–Q3): First call for bids

According to the strategic direction from the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (CNSOER), the first round will award 3–5 GW, distributed across three areas:
French Bank, Sydney Bight (~500 MW nearshore projects), and Middle Bank (~1 GW further offshore).

The criteria reflect a mature, competitive approach focused on technical competence, robust project plans, financial strength, local value creation, indigenous and community engagement and coexistence and sustainability. 

Why Canada? Why now?

Opening MRC2025, Elisa Obermann stated that Canada is «blessed with the world’s longest coastlines, the highest tides, and abundant offshore wind.» This isn’t just rhetoric. It’s geology. 

In a detailed article in Corporate Knights titled ‘Offshore wind development is gaining momentum in Atlantic Canada’ (July 23, 2025) these conditions are listed:

• Offshore wind speeds up to 11 m/s
• Wind conditions above the highest level of the US NREL classification scale
• Some of the most stable offshore wind profiles in the world

The potential to have relatively low LCOE from offshore wind – and a lot of it – is extraordinary.

– Nathaniel Pearre, researcher in the renewable-energy storage lab at Dalhousie University

And the broad continental shelf makes large parts of Nova Scotia’s offshore areas ideal for fixed-bottom turbines (25–40 meters). This allows Canada to avoid jumping straight into floating wind, a major advantage over British Columbia.

A nation-building energy ambition

Nova Scotia had already committed to awarding 5 GW by 2030. Then, in June, Premier Tim Houston launched “Wind West”, a vision that stunned the room: 

40 GW of offshore wind. Equivalent to 27% of Canada’s total electricity consumption.

This is no longer regional energy policy, it is a national industrial strategy for energy sovereignty and large-scale sector development.

Nova Scotia: The New Scotland?

Yes, the name Nova Scotia literally means “New Scotland” in Latin. So in a sense, Nova Scotia has been the “new Scotland” ever since the 1600s, when King James granted the territory to Sir William Alexander, who intended to establish a Scottish colony in the region.

Today, Scotland is once again a reference point. Not for colonization, but for offshore wind. The ScotWind leasing round remains the largest commercial allocation for floating offshore wind in world history.

So does Canada have the potential to become the next Scotland in offshore wind? Canada is earlier in the process than the UK/Scotland was before its major rounds. But the ambition is equally high.

Opportunities for international players

Canada has deep offshore experience from oil and gas, but large-scale offshore wind is new territory, creating a significant opportunity window.

Needs and Gaps

• project development and early-phase expertise
• suppliers with European offshore wind experience
• marine operations and offshore technology
• certification, HSE, MWS
• port and logistics planning
• component manufacturing

As one Canadian supply-chain representative said at the conference: “We have the skills, but not the scale. Not yet.”

Canada is moving decisively, but no country builds a new offshore wind sector alone. The experience developed in the North Sea is exactly what Canada is looking for now. This opens up for collaboration and further development of global supply chains, sharing and learnings in this relatively new sector. Norwegian Offshore Wind will the next year intensify activities and contacts between our members and the Canadien Offshore Wind community.

– Astrid Green, Business Development Manager, Norwegian Offshore Wind

The major bottleneck

If Canada has one Achilles’ heel, it is this: There is no clear pathway for where the electricity will go.

Nova Scotia is, functionally, an energy island:

• The intertie to New Brunswick is only 300 MW.
• A single offshore wind farm would exceed it.
• Export to New England (USA) requires expensive subsea cables.
• Export westward requires interprovincial agreements, a historically slow and politically complex process.

But the potential is massive:

• New England now faces a 30 GW “green hole” after major project cancellations.
• The US Northeast could face a power crisis by the 2030s.
• Under Trump 2.0, Canada looks increasingly attractive as a stable green neighbour.
• Canada’s political stability positions it as a “safe haven” in a volatile North American market.

As Recharge wrote in September: “Canada takes new offshore wind step as it moves to capitalise on Trump chaos.”

Indigenous participation: Not only a formality 

MRC2025 showcased something that truly distinguishes Canada. The Indigenous Business Pavilion and strong Indigenous representation throughout the program. In Canada, Indigenous partnership is not a box-ticking exercise. It is a requirement to win. Projects are expected to include formal partnerships, early and meaningful engagement, local value creation and revenue sharing.

International developers will need to adapt. And that quickly. Many European players will get a reality check. So you better note: Early Indigenous engagement = greater chance of success.

How realistic is 40 GW?

Well, who dares to say what is realistic or not in today’s offshore wind market? Some experts say 40 GW by 2050 is entirely achievable. Others call it overly ambitious. Both are probably right. It is possible, but it will require:

• an entirely new transmission system
• significant port investments
• interprovincial cooperation
• a clear export strategy to the US
• long-term political stability

Then again — the same could have been said about Scotland in 2010.

So we can hope Nova Scotia is becoming the next Scotland. And that the international offshore wind family has got a new offshore wind hotspot to take seriously.

The road ahead

In the coming months, the government and CNSOER will finalize the first licensing round. Consultations will intensify, and the supply chain will begin positioning itself.

For developers and suppliers from Norway, Scotland, Denmark, the UK and the rest of Europe, now is the moment to:

• initiate partnerships
• establish Indigenous engagement
• participate in consultations
• understand the regulatory framework
• position for pre-qualification

Get more insight in our upcoming webinar

Norwegian Offshore Wind is aiming to be the strongest supply chain for floating offshore wind world wide. Atlantic Canada is home to a strong cluster of firms with environmental sensing, characterization, and monitoring SMEs and research institutions which has applicability in the offshore wind sector. Join our webinar to understand supply chain strengths and needs, to learn of the work of Norwegian Offshore Wind, and to get the latest news on advancements towards offshore wind in Canada.

Tuesday December 9th, 15:00 - 16:30 (CET) 

It is free and open for all. Here's the link to register for the webinar.